Opposition Parties Accuse India’s Election Body of “Vote Theft” in Heated Political Row

A major political controversy has erupted in India as opposition parties level serious accusations of electoral fraud against the country’s Election Commission of India (ECI), claiming that irregularities in the 2024 general elections favored Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The row reached a boiling point on Tuesday when parliament was adjourned after opposition MPs demanded a debate on the integrity of India’s electoral process. A day earlier, dozens of opposition leaders, including Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, were briefly detained by Delhi police while attempting to march to the ECI headquarters.

Gandhi first raised the allegations at an August 7 press conference in Delhi, claiming widespread voter manipulation during the 2024 parliamentary elections. He has since garnered strong support from hundreds of opposition lawmakers across the country.

The controversy comes at a sensitive time for Indian democracy, which recently conducted the world’s largest election with nearly a billion registered voters – approximately one in eight people on Earth. Despite securing a historic third term, Modi’s BJP-led alliance fell short of the sweeping majority that pre-election polls had predicted, with voter turnout averaging 66%.

At the center of Gandhi’s allegations is electoral data from Mahadevapura, part of the Bangalore Central parliamentary constituency. Gandhi claims the voter list contained more than 100,000 manipulated entries, including duplicate voters, invalid addresses, and bulk registrations at single locations. He cited specific examples, including a voter named Shakun Rani who allegedly cast ballots twice – though the ECI has disputed this claim.

“The Congress party lost at least 48 seats in the elections due to such irregularities,” Gandhi stated, accusing India’s election body of failing to enforce the fundamental “one man, one vote” principle. The Congress won 99 of the 543 seats in the elections, significantly behind BJP’s 240.

Other allegations include the deletion of CCTV footage from polling booths and instances where dozens of voters were registered at single addresses. Gandhi has demanded the ECI release digital voter rolls for independent audit by his party and the public.

The ECI has responded forcefully, calling Gandhi’s allegations “absurd” and denying many of his specific claims. The polling body has demanded that Gandhi either submit a signed declaration under oath or apologize to the nation. The ECI’s Karnataka state unit noted that the Congress didn’t file formal objections during the pre-election electoral roll revision process.

BJP leaders have also strongly rebutted the allegations. Federal Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan called the opposition’s actions “extremely worrying and dangerous for democracy,” while Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused Gandhi and the opposition alliance of “defaming democracy, tearing it to shreds, and tampering with the dignity of constitutional institutions.”

The controversy has intensified amid a separate electoral roll revision in Bihar state, where key elections are scheduled for November. This Special Intensive Revision, conducted between June and July, was the first comprehensive update since 2003 and involved officials visiting all 78.9 million voters in the state for verification.

The exercise has resulted in approximately 6.5 million names being removed from voter lists. While the ECI maintains the drive targets duplicate and deceased voters, critics argue its hasty implementation has disenfranchised many legitimate voters, especially migrants and minorities.

India’s Supreme Court is currently hearing petitions challenging the Bihar revision, with plaintiffs demanding publication of deleted names and reasons for their removal. The ECI claims the deletions include 2.2 million deceased individuals, 700,000 duplicate entries, and 3.6 million who have migrated from the state.

On August 12, Gandhi escalated his claims, stating that such manipulation was happening “at a national level and systematically.” He highlighted the case of a 124-year-old voter found in Bihar’s draft electoral list, adding: “There are unlimited cases like that. ‘Abhi picture baki hai’ [the story is not over yet].”

The outcome of this dispute could have significant implications for India’s democratic processes and public trust in electoral institutions as the country continues to navigate its complex political landscape.