Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday intensified his allegations of large-scale electoral fraud, asserting that those responsible for “vote theft” would inevitably face justice.
“Vote theft is not just an electoral scam, it is a grave betrayal of the Constitution and democracy. Let the nation’s culprits hear this—times will change, and punishment will surely be meted out,” Gandhi declared in a post on X.
On Thursday, Gandhi alleged that 1,00,250 “fake votes” were inserted into the voter list in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment of Karnataka’s Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency to secure a BJP victory.
Presenting what he termed as “criminal evidence” during a detailed briefing at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of colluding with the BJP to manipulate results, leading to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third consecutive term.
“Modi became Prime Minister with a margin of just 25 seats. The ECI is helping BJP dismantle India’s electoral system. They refuse to share complete data because if we replicate what we did in Mahadevapura in other constituencies, the truth about our democracy will emerge,” Gandhi claimed, pointing to the physical voter list as proof.
He also accused the poll body of “destroying evidence” by limiting the preservation of CCTV and webcasting footage to 45 days unless results are challenged in court.
In response, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has asked Gandhi to submit his allegations under oath, while Maharashtra’s CEO has made a similar demand regarding his claims of voter list manipulation in the 2024 Assembly elections.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi dismissed the accusations, questioning why Congress had not pursued legal remedies. “There is no need to take him seriously. Why didn’t the Congress party file any objection or election petition?” Joshi asked, accusing the party of selectively blaming the poll body based on electoral outcomes.
