by Abdul Rahman
Aug 08, 2025
India’s main political opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), claims that last year’s national elections were stolen by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in collaboration with the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the INC, made formal allegations of voter fraud in a press conference in Delhi on Thursday, August 7, and demanded immediate intervention by the judiciary to correct what is being called the destruction of the democracy in the country.
“I want the nation to know that there is a huge criminal fraud being perpetrated on this country. It is being done by the Election Commission [of India] and the party in power” and the judiciary must intervene as “democracy that we love so much does not exist” in India anymore.
Gandhi demonstrated discrepancies in the country’s electoral rolls and claimed they represent deliberate manipulation done to shape electoral results in favor of the ruling party. He claimed that apart from the national elections, which were held in April-June last year, BJP has also used similar methods to win several state legislative elections such as in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh.
Gandhi claimed that ECI used various methods to prepare fake voters in certain constituencies to turn the electoral defeat into victory, which was later covered with the use of pro-government media.
The ruling BJP rejected the claims made by Gandhi, calling them misleading and an expression of “selective outrage”.
The ECI has made no formal statements on the issue so far. However, state election commissions from Maharashtra and Karnataka have asked Gandhi to make a formal complaint as Gandhi cited various examples from these two states to establish his claims.
Following Gandhi’s press conference, most parties of the opposition coalition Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) supported his claims and demanded immediate and thorough investigation into the allegations.
ECI must be held accountable
The BJP, which has been in power since 2014, won a third straight term in office despite losing its majority in the Lok Sabha (popularly elected lower house of the Indian parliament) during the last national elections held in April-June 2024. It was able to form the government with the support of other smaller alliance partners.
The opposition had raised serious questions about the way the ECI had conducted the elections at the time as well. They had particularly complained about the ECI’s failure to observe long-held conventions such as maintaining transparency about the poll process.
Several complaints of voter suppression were also raised by the opposition during the elections.
Gandhi and several other opposition leaders and experts expressed apprehension after the results were announced. They called the results surprising given the level of popular resentment against the BJP’s decade-long rule.
Gandhi claimed it took his party so long after the elections to reach the conclusion that “the 2024 Lok Sabha election was rigged” because of the non-cooperation of the ECI, which repeatedly refused to provide them access to the necessary information.
Gandhi claimed that the ECI, through fraud and manipulation, was able to secure victory for the BJP in over two dozen crucial constituencies without which it would have been impossible for the prime minister Narendra Modi to come back to power.
Gandhi’s call for investigation and judicial intervention were backed by several other opposition leaders.
Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi (“Socialist”) Party, claimed that the BJP does not believe in equality provided by India’s constitution and wants to deprive the majority of their right to elect their government.
“Startling revelations have been made by the LoP [Leader of the Opposition]. The Election Commission owes an explanation to the nation. The credibility of the ECI is foremost in an electoral democracy,” said M A Baby, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
INC and some of its allies also organized protest demonstrations inside at various places demanding immediate investigation. The parties in the opposition alliance have decided to call for public action against the ECI in the coming days.
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