Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a sharp attack, doubling down on the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing the ruling party of colluding with the Election Commission to commit “vote chori” in recently conducted General and Assembly elections. Speaking during the Lok Sabha debate on electoral reforms, Gandhi said the integrity of India’s democratic institutions had been systematically compromised since 2014.
The Congress MP said the poll panel had still not explained how “lakhs of duplicate voters” remained on rolls across multiple states. “Why, after the SIR in Bihar, were there 1.2 lakh duplicate voters? It is very clear you have captured the institution,” he said. “The EC has no answers to these questions.”
Taking aim at changes to the selection process for election commissioners, Gandhi questioned why the Chief Justice of India was removed from the panel responsible for appointments. “Do we not believe in the Chief Justice? Why was he not in that room? I sit in the room… but I have no voice,” he said. Under the new system, the panel consists of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union minister chosen by the PM.
Gandhi also criticised the government for passing a law granting the Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners immunity from legal action for decisions made while in office. “Why do the PM and Amit Shah decide who will be in the Election Commission?” he asked. “This government also changed the law to ensure no election commissioner gets punished for any action they take. Why would they give such powers?”
The LoP referenced three PowerPoint presentations he made earlier this year, in which he alleged large-scale voter roll manipulation in Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states. According to him, such deletions and duplications are “only possible with active assistance from the EC”. Both the Election Commission and the BJP had repeatedly dismissed his claims, calling them baseless and demanding “categorical proof”. Gandhi insisted: “I have put forward adequate proof.”
He also revived the opposition’s long-standing concerns over Electronic Voting Machines. “Electoral reform is very simple, but nobody wants to do it. The government doesn’t want to do it,” he said, arguing that distrust in EVMs continued because of opacity in the process.
Rahul Gandhi underscored the massive controversy that stemmed out of his ‘Vote Chori’ expose based on the Haryana elections, where the photograph of a Brazilian woman allegedly appeared against 22 entries in the state’s voter list. “A Brazilian woman appeared 22 times in Haryana voter lists… another woman’s name appeared 200 times. The Haryana election was stolen,” he said. “I have said this again and again… but nowhere has the Election Commission answered my questions.”
Turning to a wider critique, Gandhi accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of “wholesale capture” of India’s institutions, including universities, investigative agencies and regulatory bodies. “Everything emerges from the vote… all institutions emerge from the vote. So it is obvious the RSS has to capture everything that emerges from the vote,” he said. He alleged that Vice-Chancellors were being appointed based solely on ideological loyalty and not merit. “The capture of the CBI and ED, and the systematic placement of bureaucrats aligned to the ruling ideology, is the second step,” he added. “The third is the institution that controls elections, the Election Commission. I am not saying this without proof.”
