Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has ramped up his battle against the Election Commission of India (ECI) over his contention that it has actively allowed unauthorised voter fraud to occur in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The ECI has vehemently contested the allegations and said they are patently false.
During a blistering press conference in New Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi decided to again faceoff against the Election Commission of India, and accuse the institution of violating its constitutional duty in the conduct of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi claimed over 100,000 votes were “stolen” in a particular electoral area, the Bangalore Central constituency, and that was done through duplicate voter registration and fake addresses. The congress leader called it a “systematic attack on democracy.”
Gandhi spoke solemnly about democratic principles, stating,
“I have taken the Constitution’s oath, and it is my duty to speak the truth. This is not about one party’s win or loss; this is about the theft of the people’s voice.”
He then continued to assert that the poll body is complicit by protecting those that committed electoral malpractice, and not protecting free and fair elections.
Serious Allegations Made Against ECI
In making these allegations, the Congress leader identified what he characterized as “distinct patterns of manipulation on the voter list,” pointing out multiple instances of someone being registered in different locations under the same name, and even notations of voters who did not exist being on the list at all. He pointed out that such irregularities were not one-off events, but rather part of an organized attempt to skew electoral outcomes.
Gandhi stated that the complaints by the Congress party had gone ignored, or met with woefully inadequate response at best, and claimed that ECI had willingly “turned a blind eye” to the issue.
Response of the Election Commission
ECI immediately countered the accusations, quickly writing an official statement that said that the voter lists had multiple stages of verification process before elections, and that no credible evidence of large scale fraud was found. According to this statement, “The allegations made have no foundation. The electoral process is and should be completely secure, and transparent, with mechanisms in place to prevent and address irregularities.”
The Commission also emphasized that political parties had opportunities to examine electoral rolls before elections during the period of preparation, and that irregulates could be corrected by the methods of law.
A Political Powder Keg
This latest incident adds another layer of political tension in the post-election environment, with the Congress party using the allegations to call into question the BJP’s legitimacy in the elections, while the ruling party dismisses any discussion as “sour grapes”. Analysts consider that this scandal could be a key talking point prior to the 2025 elections at the state level, particularly in districts where there is already scrutiny surrounding the integrity of the voter roll.
