By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday referred to a “lady who’s hiding right now in Dehradun” while accusing the BJP-led government and the Election Commission leadership of being responsible for alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. His remark has triggered questions about the identity of the woman and her alleged connection with the controversy.
“It is our commitment to you that the people who have done this, Mr Modi, Mr Shah, Mr Gyanesh Kumar, the lady who’s hiding right now in Dehradun, and others are going to be brought to justice,” Gandhi claimed at a joint press conference of INDIA bloc leaders in New Delhi.
Although Gandhi did not name the woman, the controversy has brought Election Commission Director General (IT) Dr Seema Khanna into focus. However, there is no confirmation that she was the person Gandhi was referring to, or independently verified information that she is in hiding in Dehradun.
Khanna heads the Election Commission of India’s information technology department and oversees its digital systems, including platforms used to manage electoral rolls. She joined the poll panel in 2025 on deputation from the National Informatics Centre.
Her name has figured in the opposition’s allegations concerning the functioning of the Commission’s electoral-roll software, particularly the ECINet and ERONet systems. The controversy intensified after reports said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised concerns over the centralisation of control over electoral-roll databases and the access available to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).