In a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition (LOP) in Lok Sabha, accused the constitutional body of acting in collusion with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to manipulate electoral rolls and steal elections. He cited fresh evidence from Karnataka’s Mahadevapura assembly constituency to allege a systematic effort to disenfranchise voters and rig the democratic process in favour of the ruling party.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Mr Gandhi claimed that thousands of voters had been 'illegally deleted' from the electoral list in Mahadevapura ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls, and that this was done with the knowledge and tacit approval of the ECI.
Claiming that his statement was backed by data collected over six months by a team of over 30-40 people, the senior Congress member of Parliament (MP) accused the ECI of colluding with the BJP to manipulate voter roll, suppress scrutiny, and enable voter theft on a significant scale.
According to Mr Gandhi, the Congress received 626,208 votes in Bangalore Central, while the BJP secured 658,915 votes — a margin of 32,707.
However, a deeper examination of the Mahadevapura assembly segment, a part of this Lok Sabha seat, revealed a massive discrepancy. Here, BJP polled 229,632 votes while the Congress managed only 115,586 — a staggering gap of 114,046 votes.
Mr Gandhi claimed that at least 100,250 votes were stolen in this single assembly segment alone and the same was being done across the country.
"First, duplicate voters. As many as 11,965 entries were found to be duplicated across multiple booths and even states. Names like Gurkirat Singh and Aditya Shrivastava appeared multiple times and in the case of Shrivastava, his name appeared in different states — Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh,” says the LoP.
“This is not a small issue. This is an attempt to fundamentally damage Indian democracy,” Mr Gandhi said, holding up what he described as 'documentary evidence' of electoral fraud. “The Election Commission is supposed to be neutral. Instead, it has become a weapon in the hands of the BJP to steal elections.”
Allegations Based on RTI Data
The Congress leader’s accusations are based on recent findings obtained through Right to Information (RTI) queries and independent investigations. According to Mr Gandhi, private entities affiliated with the BJP were granted access to voter databases and tasked with identifying, targeting and deleting the names of specific communities and demographics likely to vote against the party.
“These are not isolated incidents,” he asserted. “This is part of a wider strategy employed in various parts of the country, starting with Karnataka.”
Mr Gandhi pointed to the Mahadevapura constituency — an area in Bengaluru that has witnessed rapid urbanisation and demographic shifts — as a 'testing ground' for such voter suppression tactics.
“Capture of the Election System”
The Congress leader alleged that the deletion of voters’ names was not only carried out by political agents but also sanctioned by the Election Commission. He described this as an 'institutional capture' of India's electoral apparatus.
“The BJP is not just fighting elections. They are capturing the systems that conduct elections — from the ECI to the electronic voting machines to the voter rolls,” he says. “Democracy does not work when the referee is on the side of one team.”
He also demanded that the chief election commissioner (CEC) respond to the allegations and explain why no action had been taken despite repeated complaints and substantiated findings.
Congress Demands Immediate Probe, CEC Resignation
Mr Gandhi says the Indian National Congress (INC) would be formally writing to the President of India seeking an independent investigation into the matter. He also demanded the resignation of the CEC, alleging he had 'failed in his constitutional duty' to ensure free and fair elections.
“If the election commission has even a shred of integrity left, the CEC must step down immediately,” Mr Gandhi declared. “This is not about party politics. This is about protecting the soul of our democracy.”
The party has also called for a judicial probe monitored by the Supreme Court to investigate voter deletions, data breaches, and potential misuse of Aadhaar-linked voter identification processes.
BJP Rejects Allegations
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Union minister for parliamentary affairs and BJP leader Kiren Rijiju termed the Congress party’s criticism of the poll panel over alleged voter list manipulation as 'bogus' and politically motivated.
“The claims made by Rahul Gandhi and his team are bogus. They are targeting the Election Commission to tarnish its image,” Kiren Rijiju said.
Addressing media in New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra says that it was not for the first time that Mr Gandhi has made accusations against constitutional bodies but he has also targeted them earlier also. Mr Patra says Congress leaders and Mr Gandhi do not raise question about the integrity of the Commission in those states where their party won elections.
EC Rebuts Claim
ECI issued a strong rebuttal to the Congress leader's allegations of 'vote theft' in Karnataka, asking him to give a complaint on oath or stop misleading citizens. “If Rahul Gandhi believes what he is saying is true, then he should sign the declaration/oath as per Rule 20 (3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 and submit the same to election commission of Karnataka by Thursday evening itself so that necessary proceedings can be initiated.”
Background: Past Complaints
This is not the first time Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party has raised concerns about the neutrality of the Election Commission. In the run-up to the 2019 and 2024 general elections, several complaints were lodged with the ECI alleging biased conduct, suppression of voter information, and selective enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.
However, the fresh revelations — supported by documents obtained through RTI and on-ground verification — may lend more weight to the Opposition’s charge of systemic voter suppression.
Political observers say the issue could become a major flashpoint in the months leading up to the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections and the 2026 Tamil Nadu polls.
Civil Society Backs Probe Call
Several civil society organisations, including the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), expressed support for an independent investigation into the alleged voter roll manipulation.
“The integrity of India’s elections rests on an impartial Election Commission,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founder of ADR. “Any credible allegation, especially backed by data, must be thoroughly investigated.”
What Comes Next?
With Congress ramping up pressure and potentially moving to court, the matter is expected to escalate into a wider political and legal battle. If proven true, the allegations could have far-reaching implications for the credibility of the Election Commission and the conduct of future elections in India.
“The Congress will not stay silent,” Mr Gandhi concluded. “We will fight this in Parliament, on the streets, and in the courts. India’s democracy must be saved.”
Unfortunately, even SC wants Ration Card, Aadhar Card, etc. etc. To be accepted as valid proofs!!
Even Balgladeshi, Rohingya, Nepali, Pakistani crossing birders get RATION CARDS & AADHAR for few thousands & using these they even get Indian PASSPORT to migrate using DUNKI routes to EU or NA (& some few get caught at Immigration)
From the published electoral rolls alone we can only say "suspected" anomalies. The counts given by RG cannot be accurate for several reason. He is fooling us by giving the numbers with units digit accuracy. RG should elaborate the method followed to arrive at the counts. His arguments are not convincing.
To the best of my understanding, there is no political game in corrupting the electoral rolls. They were far worse ten years ago. Neither BJP nor INC showed any interest in improving them. Someone has now fed the information to RG to pursue a false propaganda, barking at a wrong tree, diluting the core issue and misleading the public.
Soft and hard copies of every version of electoral rolls are given to the recognised political parties. What soft copy is RG asking for? What is being denied? There are companies selling electoral roll databases for a price. Legal or illegal? I have told about this to the CEO-KA officers and also offered to give address and phone numbers of people who are selling them. Many political parties buy them. The price was 7 paise per voter record. CEO-KA did not care. In the meantime, they make the public voter list documents almost inaccessible by design.
The overall quality of the electoral rolls? May be worse than what RG pointed out. I am fairly sure that there are more duplicate entries and incorrect addresses. Most of the cleansing efforts by ECI have been half-hearted, badly designed, and ineffective. They ended up torturing the low-level officials of the machinery and no improvements in the system.
Simple tasks are made to look like undoable. After Dr Alok Shukla (ex Dy. EC) was transferred out of ECI, I have not found a single person in the organisation who would listen to feedback.
I speak with an experience of analysing every version (2 to 4 per year) of Bangalore and Delhi for about 10 years. I stopped when the EC made the task impossible for an individual with humble home PCs.”