Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged elections are being stolen in India.
Citing an investigation carried out in one Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, Rahul told reporters outside the Parliament the Congress had uncovered large-scale electoral fraud.
“In India, elections are being stolen. That is the reality of India,” Rahul said. “It is not just about 52 lakhs. It is not just about Bihar, they cheated in Maharashtra. We have asked questions of the Election Commission, asked them to show us the voters list, they did not show us the voters list, we asked for videography, they changed the law. One crore new voters had come in Maharashtra and the election was stolen.”
Rahul’s latest salvo against the Narendra Modi government and the Election Commission came amid growing political uproar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. During the exercise, officials have found that over 52 lakh voters were not present at their addresses with 18 lakh dead voters.
“In Bihar, votes of SC, ST, OBC, and minority brothers and sisters are being stolen in the name of SIR. We will not sit quietly. The INDIA bloc will fight the battle for people's rights from Parliament to the streets,” he wrote on X.
Congress claims digital proof of vote theft
“In Karnataka, we have found out ‘bhayankar chori’. I will show it in black and white to you and the Election Commission. I will show in black and white how the ‘chori’ is done and from where. We have it in black and white in Karnataka,” Rahul said.
The Congress and other opposition parties staged a demonstration outside the Parliament demanding a discussion on the EC’s electoral rolls cleansing drive ahead of the Bihar polls.
Referring to the Karnataka probe, Rahul said Congress volunteers took the paper voter list of one constituency and converted it into digital format over six months to investigate how voter fraud was being done.
“They know that we have understood their game. We picked one constituency and did a deep dive. Problem is that they give a voters list on paper and that list cannot be analysed. We took the full voters list of one constituency, we put it on digital format, it took six months but we have uncovered their whole system, how they do it, who votes and from where new voters are brought,” Gandhi said.
Warning for Madhya Pradesh
Speaking at a Congress training camp for the Congress legislators in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, Rahul warned of similar manipulation in the state’s voter rolls ahead of the 2028 assembly elections.
“Voter list manipulation, similar to what happened in Maharashtra, could take place in Madhya Pradesh too,” he said.
Opposition protests spill into Parliament
Opposition parties intensified protests in Parliament over the SIR exercise. Rajya Sabha proceedings were repeatedly adjourned on Wednesday. When the House reconvened at noon after its first adjournment, Opposition members remained on their feet, demanding a discussion.
CPI MP Sandosh Kumar P was called to raise a supplementary question but used the time to bring up the SIR issue. Chairman Ghanshyam Tiwari adjourned the House again till 2 PM.
Congress president and leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and several INDIA bloc MPs were present in the House. Outside, leaders from the Congress, DMK, TMC, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, JMM, and Left parties gathered at the Makar Dwar entrance, holding placards with slogans such as “SIR: Stealing Indian Rights” and “SIR: Subverting Indian Republic”.
