Onmanorama Explains | Rahul Gandhi, the Election Commission and Voter Chori row

On August 8, 2025, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi made a claim that has the potential to shake the foundation of the world’s largest democracy – vote rigging. To support his claims, Gandhi quoted figures from Mahadevapura, a small constituency in Bengaluru, Karnataka, from the 2024 election. In a well-rehearsed media address, the Congress leader showed evidence of voters' lists with photos, in which individuals registered in multiple states; breweries listed and people's address and tiny houses having large numbers of voters.

He stressed that all the data were sourced from the Election Commission. "My team took six months, with 30-40 people working tirelessly, to manually check a single assembly constituency’s voter list for duplicates,” Gandhi said. 

Here’s a look at the party’s findings and the political fallout of the allegations.

What did the Mahadevapura case study reveal?
Gandhi claimed that the BJP and Election Commission of India are involved in “a huge criminal fraud” to impact the election results, citing an alleged pattern of voter list manipulation nationwide. The Congress leader also accused the ECI of withholding machine-readable voter lists and CCTV footage, and destroying evidence of voter fraud. He argued that Narendra Modi became PM due to similar manipulation in around 25 seats. 

Congress, which lost the Mahadevapura Assembly segment by 1,14,046 votes; alleged 1,00,250 of these were “stolen” in 5 different ways: 

Duplicate voters – 11,965 cases, with some people registered in multiple booths/states. Eg: There were instances of one person appearing in “four polling booths” and voting in multiple booths. Gurkirat Singh Dang’s name figured in voter lists in four different polling booths in Mahadevpura. Another man Adtiya Srivastava was enrolled as a voter in two polling booths in Karnataka and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Fake/invalid addresses – 40,009 cases, including non-existent locations and gibberish details. “They have fake details in columns such as father’s name, etc … Father’s name in one case ‘ilsdfhug’, in another ‘dfoigoidf’” Gandhi said.

Bulk voters at a single address – 10,452 cases, such as dozens registered in small houses or commercial premises. Eg: This is House No. 35 … There is a single-room house where 80 voters are shown living: different names, different families. 

Invalid photos – 4,132 cases. 

Misuse of Form 6 for new voters – 33,692 cases, including elderly people registered twice in short intervals. Eg: Shakun Rani, a 70-year-old, who got registered as a new voter twice in two months. “There are 33,692 such voters. I have got a list of the ages. They are supposed to be new voters, but they are all old,” Gandhi said. 

Evidence shown: Voter lists with photos, addresses like breweries and small houses with large numbers of voters, and examples of individuals registered in multiple states.

How did Election Commission respond?
The EC issued a strong rebuttal, labelling Gandhi’s “vote chori” claims as “baseless”, “absurd”, and part of a “tired script”, urging polling officials to ignore them and maintain impartiality. Under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the EC demanded that Gandhi either sign a formal declaration, under oath, confirming his claims and providing the specific names he alleges were wrongly included or excluded; or apologise publicly if he cannot substantiate them. The EC reiterated that summary roll revisions are legal and routine administrative procedures, not manipulative act.

On the Shakun Rani episode — the 70-year-old voter allegedly registered twice — the EC’s preliminary investigation found she had voted only once, refuting Gandhi’s presentation. The EC noted that the document Gandhi used to support his claim “is not issued by a polling officer”. 

The Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Haryana issued formal notices to Gandhi, granting him 10 days to submit the signed declaration and the names of electors he claims were added or removed improperly, so they can initiate proceedings.

Uttar Pradesh CEO refuted the allegations made by Gandhi on two electors -- Aditya Shrivastav and Vishal Singh -- being registered in multiple places including in UP and Karnataka . The CEO said that after a search on the ECI database, the duo was not found on the UP voter list as alleged and only registered at Mahadevpura in Bengaluru. 

The Karnataka CEO, in his letter, said the authorities had shared the draft electoral rolls of special summary revision (SSR) with the Congress in November 2024 and shared the final rolls in January 2025. The Congress did not file any objections to these. The CEO, along with his letter, sent a written declaration to the AICC leader and asked him to sign and return it along with specific information on missing names.

What was BJP’s response? 
The BJP’s response has essentially been a full-scale counterattack on the Congress’s allegations over the electoral roll issue. Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of attacking constitutional institutions whenever outcomes do not favour them, saying similar voter list revisions had happened before without objection. He pointed out that Congress accepted the same rolls in elections they won but cried foul in losses.

 Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan called Rahul Gandhi “Bayan Bahadur” (one who is prone to giving vaccuous statements) and claimed the Congress was ideologically hollow, engaging in a “systematic” attack on institutions. He alleged a possible larger conspiracy against democracy and said Gandhi's stance insults voters’ decisions.

BJP leader Sambit Patra accused the Congress of “selective outrage” for questioning the EC only in states they lost, noting they celebrated victories in Himachal, Telangana, and the Lok Sabha polls without making such allegations. 

Why the controversy now?
The controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has become politically charged because Bihar is headed for assembly elections in November 2025. SIR involves house-to-house enumeration, verifying every voter through their own form and ID proof. 

The exercise began on June 25, 2025, and is scheduled to conclude by September 30, 2025. Bihar is the first state undergoing this process ahead of the 2025 Assembly elections—partly due to rapid urbanisation, migration, new 18+ voters, and ensuring no ineligible names stay on the rolls. EC officials maintain that special revisions are routine and lawful, not politically motivated. 

Protesters allege mass roll deletions—66 lakh names removed from 7.90 crore electors—with marginalized communities, migrants, and even living persons listed as dead. Reports to the Supreme Court accused BLOs of signing forms on behalf of absent voters, implying fraud. Opposition groups (CPI(ML), SP, RJD, Congress) labeled it “a tool of disenfranchisement,” especially targeting poor, migrant, and minority populations. RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav alleged that BJP leaders received two EPIC numbers, hinting at partisan manipulation. 

In a special submission, psephologist and rights activist Yogendra Yadav said SIR intended to excluded more than 65 lakh voters in Bihar and may rise up to 1 crore if ECI continues with the process. He appeared with two people who have been declared dead by the electoral rolls. 

The Supreme Court has, however, upheld the EC’s authority to conduct SIR and called the expanded ID list “voter-friendly,” dismissing claims of Aadhaar exclusion as mandatory. 

For the Congress and the INDIA bloc, the allegations of “voter chori” and inflated or duplicate entries fit into their broader narrative of accusing the BJP of manipulating democratic institutions to gain electoral advantage. For the BJP, rebutting these allegations is equally strategic. By portraying the Congress as “selectively outraged” and attacking institutions only when it loses, the party seeks to undermine the credibility of the opposition’s charges before they can influence public perception in Bihar. 

What’s Congress plan?
The Congress has intensified its ‘voter chori’ campaign ahead of the Bihar polls. Party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have staged protests in Parliament and across states, wearing T-shirts bearing the photograph of Minta Devi, a 124-year-old first-time voter from Bihar whose case they cite as an example of irregularities.

The party has also submitted memoranda to state election offices, run social media campaigns using hashtags such as #VoterChori and #SaveDemocracy, and mobilised cadres to conduct door-to-door outreach, urging citizens to check their names in the electoral rolls. The INDIA bloc has joined the Congress in amplifying the ‘voter chori’ campaign ahead of the Bihar elections, framing it as a collective fight to “protect democracy”.