Electoral integrity under fire: Rahul Gandhi's 'vote theft' claims spark high-stakes political showdown

What began as the Election Commission of India’s announcement to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar polls escalated to another level when Rahul Gandhi produced “evidence” to accuse the election body and the ruling BJP of vote theft by manipulating the voters’ list.

While defending the Election Commission, the BJP also began digging into records in seats won by Opposition leaders, levelling similar charges against them. The party was not merely defending the Election Commission but mounting a sweeping counter-offensive that paints Congress and its allies as the culprits in what is now called a “vote chori” racket.

With both sides having levelled allegations of discrepancies in the voters’ list, the sanctity of electoral rolls and voter ID cards has come under question, which has larger ramifications in the minds of the voters that may impact their trust on the polling day as 'vote chori' may become the new buzzword.

Although Opposition parties have jointly opposed the SIR exercise in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi has taken the lead inside and outside Parliament on the issue. Coupled with his latest claims of vote theft, particularly in Karnataka and Maharashtra, he has emerged as the face of the fight against the Election Commission.

The BJP’s counter-strategy has grown increasingly aggressive as the controversy has raged. Initially fielding its spokespersons, the party soon entrusted senior ministers involved in election management — Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav — to target Gandhi’s claims over the SIR.

The ministers accused Gandhi of wilfully misrepresenting EC data — citing a 40-lakh increase in Maharashtra’s voter rolls between the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, rather than the one crore he claimed — and pointed out that many of the seats with the largest increases were won by Congress or its INDIA bloc partners.

Central to the BJP’s pushback was its insistence that the SIR was simply a process of updating and refining voter lists — a standard, nationwide exercise undertaken by the Election Commission. Since Independence, they argue, the EC has conducted such revisions to keep the rolls accurate, and suggesting otherwise amounts to misleading the public about the functioning of a key constitutional body. By reinforcing the normalcy of the SIR, the BJP aims to strip the Congress charge of any extraordinary weight.

Targeting Rahul Gandhi’s credibility

The party’s counter-offensive makes Rahul Gandhi personally central to the narrative. BJP leaders describe him as “directionless”, “anti-Constitutional”, and incapable of accepting electoral defeat. They cite a pattern — from questioning EVMs to alleging fraud in Maharashtra’s voter rolls — as evidence that he seeks to discredit the system whenever Congress loses.

Pradhan labelled Gandhi “the ringleader of anti-Constitutional acts” whose politics is built on disorder. The BJP accused the Leader of the Opposition of questioning constitutional institutions in the country, from the Supreme Court and the Election Commission to even the Army during military action against a neighbouring country.

Gandhi, for his part, had displayed aggression by warning EC officials about “consequences” if Congress came to power.

Yadav countered Gandhi on the statistics, stating that in 2024 the number of voters in the Maharashtra Assembly rolls was 9,71,41,289, while in the Lok Sabha it was 9,30,61,760 — a difference of around 40 lakh. “However, Rahul Gandhi exaggerated this by 60 per cent, falsely claiming an increase of one crore voters.”

The BJP’s attack has also targeted the Gandhi family. The party’s IT cell chief unearthed data from the 1980s, alleging that former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was made a voter before she became an Indian citizen.

Vote-Bank Politics

Beyond debunking specific claims, the BJP is framing the Congress stance as part of a larger political strategy in which illegal Bangladeshi's are allegedly being added to the voter list to secure a loyal vote bank. The party also accuses the Opposition of pursuing appeasement politics.

“The Congress and its allied parties are engaged solely in vote-bank politics. They want to make infiltrators into voters to serve their political interests. When the Election Commission presents them with the correct facts, they talk about dismantling the very same Election Commission,” Pradhan charged.

The party is likely to aggressively push this argument during the polls to counter the Opposition. Any polarising debate has the potential to override livelihood issues that may surface during the campaign. In the past, the BJP has benefited electorally whenever polarisation has taken place.

Higher Gear

The BJP shifted into a higher gear as it sought to flip the blame for voter list manipulation back onto Opposition leaders.

Former Union minister Anurag Thakur alleged irregularities in voter registration in high-profile constituencies represented by Opposition heavyweights. These included Rae Bareli — once held by Sonia Gandhi and now by Rahul Gandhi; Wayanad — Rahul Gandhi’s other seat in Kerala; Diamond Harbour — TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee; Kannauj — SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s seat; Mainpuri — held by Dimple Yadav; and Kolathur — Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin’s constituency.

Thakur demanded that these MPs and leaders resign, alleging they won through “vote chori” — fake voter registrations, manipulated rolls, and protection of illegal infiltrators.

The BJP is now attempting to seize that same language and turn it against Congress. By producing constituency-level accusations against Opposition leaders, the party hopes to make the “vote chori” label stick to its opponents instead.