Election Commission Counters Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has strongly countered allegations made by Congress leader and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, who accused the ECI of aiding the ruling BJP in voter fraud.

Rahul Gandhi, speaking at the INDIA bloc meeting on Thursday evening, claimed that large-scale irregularities had occurred in a particular assembly segment in Karnataka during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In his presentation, he alleged that the voters list had multiple issues: duplicate entries for the same voter, names of voters appearing in different states, fake or non-existent addresses, hundreds of votes registered under a single house number, voter ID cards with incorrect photos, and widespread misuse of Form-6 meant for new voter registrations.

He also accused the Election Commission of designing the election schedule in a way that benefited the BJP and of refusing to provide digital copies of the voters list to the opposition.

In response, the ECI described Rahul Gandhi’s remarks as baseless and lacking clarity. It challenged him to file a formal, signed complaint with concrete evidence. “If Rahul Gandhi stands by his claims, there should be no hesitation in submitting a sworn affidavit. If he fails to do so, it would imply he does not trust his own analysis—and in that case, he must apologize to the nation,” said ECI sources.

The issue has now escalated into a sharp political and institutional standoff, with the Election Commission demanding accountability and substantiation for the serious charges leveled against it.