New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Election Commission of India (EC) of orchestrating large‑scale “vote chori” (vote theft) to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party, stating that Congress has gathered “open and shut” evidence. He likened the proof to an “atom bomb”, saying once publicised, the EC would have “no place to hide” in India.
Gandhi claimed that his six‑month internal probe revealed conclusive evidence of manipulation, beginning with suspicions during the Madhya Pradesh elections, followed by the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and intensifying during the Maharashtra assembly elections. He accused the EC not only of inflating voter rolls by adding crores of names across constituencies, but also of blocking access to digital roll data and CCTV footage from polling stations.
Election Commission strongly refutes allegations, affirms EVM integrity
The EC has firmly rejected Rahul Gandhi’s claims as “baseless”, “completely absurd”, and an “affront to the rule of law”. Officials noted that the Commission had already provided a detailed response in December 2024, which remains publicly accessible on its website.
In particular, the EC emphasised that no evidence of EVM tampering has been found. Comprehensive testing conducted after the Maharashtra assembly elections—including cross‑verification of Electronic Voting Machines with Voter‑Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips across ten constituencies—found no mismatches or irregularities.
Bihar voter‑roll revision—new flashpoint ahead of Assembly polls
The controversy has extended to Bihar, where the EC is conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls before the upcoming Assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi and INDIA‑bloc parties have repeatedly accused the Commission of attempting voter disenfranchisement, alleging that millions could be removed from rolls under the guise of revision.
Gandhi has dubbed the EC as BJP’s “election chori branch”, citing alleged cases of government officials filling forms without voters’ consent. He threatened legal action and FIRs against those exposing the process, claiming the revision is a political conspiracy to suppress votes of the poor and migrants.
Political response and planned campaigns
Rahul Gandhi joined protest marches in Patna alongside INDIA‑bloc leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, demanding a halt to the SIR exercise and full transparency from the EC, including release of digital voter data and CCTV footage. In response, the EC has declined to release such footage, citing a Supreme Court–mandated rule to destroy it 45 days after results unless challenged in court.
Opposition parties are also preparing a state‑wide “yatra” starting in mid‑August to mobilise voters around alleged list anomalies and push back against what they view as politicised roll revision efforts.
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s claims, Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju told ANI: “This is not the first time Rahul Gandhi is threatening Constitutional organisations… This is a huge conspiracy to weaken democracy… This is a very dangerous behaviour and approach. The opposition is running a malicious plan to discredit constitutional organisations. It is an attack on democracy… Even the opposition party leaders have started to internally oppose Rahul Gandhi… People have started saying Rahul is playing a dirty game and wants to destroy the country’s image…”
