Rahul Gandhi Intensifies Election Fraud Allegations

Rahul Gandhi Intensifies Election Fraud Allegations

It is contended that without these purported illicit practices, the BJP and Modi would struggle to secure electoral victories.

By RMN News Service
July 23, 2025

New Delhi, India – Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has escalated his accusations of widespread electoral malpractices, directly implicating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI). These strong claims come amidst growing concerns about the integrity of India’s electoral process and a significant drop in the nation’s global corruption ranking.

Specific Allegations of Stolen Elections: Speaking virtually at the Congress’s Nav Sankalp Shivir in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandu on Monday, July 21, Rahul Gandhi asserted that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were “stolen,” pointing to the suspicious appearance of over one crore (ten million) new voters in the electoral rolls.

He further claimed that the recent Madhya Pradesh elections were similarly manipulated and issued a warning about potential fraud in the upcoming Bihar election. This follows his earlier accusation of “match-fixing” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP in the Maharashtra polls. The Madhya Pradesh Congress notably shared a video of his address on their Twitter (X) handle on July 22.

Evolving Tactics of Alleged Election Fraud: While initial concerns about electoral manipulation often centered on electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering, sources indicate that the Modi-led BJP, allegedly in collusion with the ECI, has diversified its tactics. New methods reportedly include:

• Tampering with electoral rolls
• Declaring fraudulent election results
• Voter intimidation
• Bribery

It is contended that without these purported illicit practices, the BJP and Modi would struggle to secure electoral victories, given what is described as widespread public discontent over issues like poverty, corruption, inflation, unemployment, lawlessness, and religious animosity under the current government.

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India’s Declining Transparency and Rising Corruption: The alleged rampant election frauds are also seen as a significant factor contributing to an exponential increase in corruption across the country. The Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2024, released in February 2025, placed India at the 96th position out of 180 countries, a notable drop from its 93rd rank in the previous year. With a score of 38 out of 100, India is now categorized among the world’s most corrupt nations.

The Transparency Index explicitly indicates that corruption tends to increase in repressive authoritarian nations where elections are not fair and transparent, and democratic institutions are under constant attack by the ruling regime. Full democracies have a CPI average of 73, flawed democracies average 47, and non-democratic regimes just 33. India’s score of 38 places it within the non-democratic category, suggesting a higher degree of authoritarianism and corruption compared to even China, which ranks 76th on the CPI.

Calls for Stronger Opposition Action: Critics observe that Mr. Gandhi’s allegations of election manipulation have become a pattern following electoral defeats, often leading to a period of perceived political quiet. His current approach, largely limited to informing the public about alleged electoral manipulations, is considered by some to fall short of an effective political strategy to counter such issues, inadvertently benefiting the BJP.

In light of these persistent allegations, some voices suggest that if the Congress party truly believes in these claims, it should consider boycotting elections as a form of protest. Instead, they propose that the party should organize continuous street demonstrations across the country until election transparency is definitively guaranteed.

The absence of a unified and forceful opposition against these alleged electoral malpractices means the BJP continues to secure victories, while Rahul Gandhi’s complaints largely remain in the realm of social media. Earlier, the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) in Bihar, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, organized a widespread “chakka jam” (roadblock) protest across the state on July 9, 2025.