Chicago – November 05, 2025
India’s main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, has accused the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) of orchestrating what he called a “centralized theft of votes” during the 2024 state elections in Haryana. Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on November 5, Gandhi alleged that millions of fake or duplicate voters were added to electoral rolls in a coordinated effort to secure victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.
Gandhi, who leads the Indian National Congress and serves as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, claimed his team uncovered more than 2.5 million fraudulent voter entries. He described the alleged operation as “Operation Sarkar Chori”—literally “Operation Government Theft”—saying it turned what should have been a clear Congress victory into a narrow BJP win. “This was not an election. It was theft,” Gandhi said. “The Election Commission has become a partner in destroying Indian democracy.”
To illustrate his point, Gandhi presented examples of repeated voter photographs, fake addresses, and individuals appearing under multiple names. One striking case, he claimed, involved a photograph of a Brazilian model being used 22 times across ten polling stations. “One in every eight voters in Haryana was fake,” he alleged, arguing that such manipulation changed the outcome of several close races. He also pointed to discrepancies between postal ballots, where Congress performed strongly, and the final results announced by election authorities.
For context, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is the independent constitutional body responsible for conducting elections nationwide, from local councils to the national parliament. Its integrity is central to India’s democratic system, which is the world’s largest, involving over 900 million registered voters. Accusations against the ECI are rare and carry significant weight.
Gandhi further alleged that BJP supporters were registered as voters in multiple states, including both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, a violation of electoral law. He claimed the ECI deliberately delayed releasing voter lists, preventing opposition agents from checking for errors or duplication. The Congress leader also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of “protecting those who destroy democracy” and concealing evidence of tampering.
These charges follow earlier press briefings where Gandhi made similar claims about elections in the southern state of Karnataka. In 2024, he alleged that over 100,000 votes were deleted in one district to favor the BJP. At the time, he warned of a broader “national pattern” of voter manipulation, calling that case “the atom bomb” and promising to soon reveal “the hydrogen bomb”, which he now says is represented by his Haryana findings.
The Election Commission swiftly rejected Gandhi’s accusations, calling them “incorrect and baseless.” Officials said all political parties, including Congress, were given opportunities to review electoral rolls before voting. A spokesperson noted that “no formal objections or appeals” were filed by Congress’s local representatives, known as booth-level agents, during the verification process.
Despite the ECI’s rebuttal, Gandhi’s remarks have resonated among opposition leaders. Aaditya Thackeray, a prominent member of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party in Maharashtra, backed Gandhi’s claims, saying the issue “goes beyond party politics” and concerns “the value of every Indian’s vote.” “The world is watching,” Thackeray wrote on social media. “Free and fair elections are the foundation of democracy, and ours are being compromised.”
In Haryana’s 2024 election, the BJP won 48 of 90 assembly seats, while Congress secured 37, despite exit polls predicting a strong Congress victory. The margin of defeat was narrow in several constituencies: just over 20,000 votes in eight seats, according to Gandhi’s data. He argued that “a systematic operation” turned the tide in the BJP’s favor and warned that similar “vote theft” could occur in upcoming state elections, including in Bihar.
At the press event, Gandhi appeared alongside Haryana voters who shared testimonies of missing names and duplicate entries. He urged young Indians to pay attention, warning that “their future is being stolen” through digital manipulation of elections. “This is not about one state,” he said. “It is about whether India will remain a democracy or become an illusion of one.”
The BJP dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as political theatrics designed to “delegitimize defeat.” Party officials accused him of “trying to erode faith in institutions” and said Congress was “seeking excuses after repeated electoral losses.”
For international observers, Gandhi’s accusations tap into a growing concern about the integrity of elections in the world’s largest democracy. India’s Election Commission has long been seen as one of the country’s most trusted institutions, but opposition parties have increasingly accused it of bias toward the Modi government. The Haryana controversy, with its claims of digital voter manipulation and mass duplication, has intensified that debate, placing India’s electoral credibility under global scrutiny.
