Gandhi raised the questions a day after he went to the media in New Delhi, accusing the ECI and the BJP of violating the 'one person, one vote' norm enshrined in the Constitution.
Published Aug 08, 2025 | 4:39 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 08, 2025 | 4:39 PM
AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi at the 'Voter Adhikar Rally' in Bengaluru on Friday, 8 August. (INCIndia/X)
Synopsis: He raised the questions while addressing the ‘Vote Adhikar Rally’ organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. The rally was held to protest against the voter fraud, which the Congress said the BJP had carried out in connivance with the ECI in Karnataka and other states.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 8 August, raised five questions at the Election Commission of India (ECI) and hinted that the poll panel was behaving like a BJP agent.
Addressing the KPCC-organised ‘Vote Adhikar Rally‘ at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha sought to know why the ECI had committed massive fraud in the electoral rolls. The rally was held to protest against the voter fraud, which the Congress said the BJP had carried out in connivance with the ECI in Karnataka and other states.
Gandhi raised the questions a day after he went to the media in New Delhi, accusing the ECI and the BJP of violating the ‘one person, one vote’ norm enshrined in the Constitution.
“They know that if Indians start asking questions like this, then their entire structure will collapse,” he said.
Launching a broadside against the BJP and the ECI, Gandhi said the ruling party rode to power by manipulating the electoral rolls and destroying the election process. He reiterated that he was 100 percent sure that the voters’ list in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency was altered to favour the BJP. Gandhi said the Congress probed the issue for six months and found that about 1 lakh bogus voters were added to the list.
Gandhi claimed that 1,00,250 votes were stolen in Mahadevapura, which had 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 others with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk or single-address voters, 4,132 with fake photographs, and 33,692 voters who misused Form 6 meant for new voters.
The ECI dismissed his allegations as baseless.
The Chief Electoral Officers of at least three states on Thursday, 7 August, asked Gandhi to share the names of bogus voters included on the lists along with a signed declaration for the poll authorities to initiate “necessary proceedings” in the matter.
The Congress will present a memorandum to the ECI on the alleged ‘voter theft’ in New Delhi on Monday, 11 August.
