6 min readPuneAug 5, 2026 05:13 PM IST
First published on: Aug 4, 2026 at 08:32 PM IST
In an alleged case of voter fraud, a Pune resident’s voter ID (EPIC Card) address was changed by an unknown third party using a fake Aadhaar card. Twenty-two-year-old Prajwal Gupta, residing in Moshi, alleged that an unidentified person submitted an online address change application on his behalf in the first half of 2025 without his knowledge.
The address was changed from Bhosari Assembly Constituency (in Shirur Lok Sabha) to Indapur Assembly Constituency (in Baramati Lok Sabha).
This resulted in Gupta being unable to cast his vote in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Elections held in January 2026.
Last year, LS Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that unknown persons deleted over 6,000 voters from Aland Assembly Constituency before the Karnataka Assembly elections. Gupta’s case is similar to Gandhi’s allegations, however here the Voter ID address was changed instead of the Voter ID being deleted.
How ‘fraud’ was discovered
“I voted in Bhosari in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections. When I opened the ECI voter roll online to check my polling booth before the 2026 PCMC election, I was stunned to find my voter ID address was showing as Indapur,” Gupta told The Indian Express.
On discovering the address change, Gupta contacted his Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) using the phone number on the ECI website. An application to change the address on voter IDs can be submitted offline or online using the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) website through Form 8.
The ERO told Gupta that a different phone number, not that of Gupta’s, was used to put in an online Form 8 application, and an Aadhaar card was attached as proof of address.
“The ERO sent me a photo of this Aadhaar card. It had my name and photo on it, but with a fake Aadhaar number and address,” said Gupta. The Indian Express confirmed through the My Aadhaar website that no such Aadhaar number exists in the UIDAI database. Further, the address on the fake Aadhaar card only stated “Fulenagar, Indapur”, with no other details mentioned. Nonetheless, local election officials accepted this fake Aadhaar card, and the address change was approved. In December 2025, Gupta emailed the Deputy District Electoral Officer, (ECI), UIDAI, and Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer but received no response. Gupta raised complaints on the ECI portal, but they were repeatedly closed without any action. Gupta said he tried to call the phone number on the Aadhaar sent to him by the ERO but could not connect.
Gupta also approached the Bhosari MIDC police station, but was told that he must complain to ECI regarding the issue. He then filed an online Cyber Crime complaint.
Official response
The Indian Express reached out to Pune Deputy District Election Officer Minal Kalaskar, who said, “Technically, the form has been submitted online. The applicant’s mobile number is connected to his EPIC ID and Aadhaar. When it is connected, an OTP is sent to the person and no activity can happen without that. So we are not able to understand how this happened.”
However, the Aadhaar-based OTP verification to submit Form 8 online and other forms was introduced by the ECI in September 2025 post Rahul Gandhi’s allegations. Before that, users could submit such forms by connecting a phone number with an existing Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number, without verifying whether the details actually belonged to them. The application to change Gupta’s address was submitted before this OTP process was introduced. Gupta also confirmed he received no OTP to log in to his account or for submitting Form 8 for such a change.
Regarding the different phone number used to make the change online, Kalaskar said, “We have written to the police to give us details of who was using this phone number at that time. Once we have those details we will know who that person is and what he did.” On the lack of verification for the fake Aadhaar submitted, Kalaskar said, “(Verification) is not required. If from your mobile and using your mobile number you send me an Aadhaar card online, why should I verify it? It is your responsibility as a voter. You are giving it, what do I verify in it?”
According to the ECI’s Manual on Electoral Rolls (March 2023 Document 10 – Edition 2), the Booth Level Officer (BLO) is supposed to conduct a ‘field verification’ for approval of a Form 8 application. When asked if a field verification was carried out by the BLO in this case, Kalaskar said, “Field verification is not necessary every time… generally, it is conducted during Form No 7… or in suspicious matters. A BLO os generally not on duty for 24 hours as they are teachers or work in another government department. If you ask for field verification, the ECI will have to hire separate staff for the role… It’s not possible for a regular BLO. BLOs are already not ready to work as BLOs… Again it’s 24/7 work… The role is a continuous updating process. Teachers are doing BLO work alongside their teaching jobs.”
Kalaskar said it could not be revealed whether a vote was cast in Gupta’s name in Indapur during local body elections as the information was confidential. “We will now serve a notice to Gupta, and to the other person who the phone number belongs to, and it will be resolved face to face,” she added.
When reached out to, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam referred queries in the case to local Pune officials.
A recent law graduate, Gupta said that he had considered going to court, but was advised by seniors that an individual case might not be successful. “If there are more such people whose votes have been fraudulently shifted then we can file a Public Interest Litigation,” he said.
While the number on the fake Aadhaar card did not exist, local election officials accepted it and the address change was approved, leaving Prajwal Gupta (in photo) to become a resident of Indapur. (Express photo) 
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