In a dramatic press conference, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP to “steal elections,” claiming that the democratic process in India is being systematically undermined. Backed by data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi alleged that large-scale voter fraud took place in Karnataka's Bangalore Central constituency, calling it a “crime against the Constitution.”
Speaking from the AICC headquarters, Gandhi said the Congress spent six months gathering what he called “concrete evidence” of voter manipulation. He cited a detailed analysis of Bangalore Central and its Mahadevapura Assembly segment, pointing to duplicate entries, fake addresses, bulk voters, and invalid photos as proof of widespread tampering. He alleged that over 1,00,000 fake votes were involved in a single constituency.
Despite Congress winning six of seven assembly segments in the seat, it lost the Lok Sabha race by over 32,000 votes—due to a massive BJP lead of more than 1.14 lakh votes in Mahadevapura alone, he said. According to Gandhi, this segment showed signs of “vote chori” on a massive scale, with over 11,000 duplicate voters and nearly 34,000 new voters allegedly added fraudulently using Form 6.
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“If the Election Commission refuses to provide us with machine-readable voter lists and CCTV footage, they are participating in the crime,” Gandhi declared. He also called on the judiciary to intervene, claiming India’s democracy is being dismantled behind a façade of free and fair elections.
Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of clinging to power through electoral theft, stating that the BJP needed to “steal” just 25 close-contest seats to maintain its majority. He highlighted that the BJP had won 25 seats with margins of less than 33,000 votes each—within striking range for any manipulation.
He further questioned why the BJP seemingly escapes anti-incumbency while other parties do not, claiming that both exit polls and internal surveys have been consistently misleading. “Elections are now choreographed events,” he said, arguing that the extended polling process and lack of transparency only deepen public distrust.
The Congress is demanding the release of key voter data and CCTV footage from polling stations. Gandhi alleged that the EC was deliberately trying to destroy this evidence and insisted that ensuring a true “one person, one vote” system is critical for preserving India’s democracy.
With these fiery allegations, the battle between the Opposition and the ruling party over the integrity of India’s electoral process has taken a sharp new turn.
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