Rahul Gandhi alleges '100% rigging' in Indian elections, calls ECI and BJP 'destroyers of democracy'

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged with "100% certainty" that elections in India, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, were being rigged, and demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, as the political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls deepened following reports of objections raised by two Election Commissioners.

Addressing a press conference, Gandhi described the vote as the foundation of India's constitutional order. "From the vote, which is supposed to be protected by the Election Commission, our Constitution gets its power. From the Constitution, our laws are made, and from our laws emerge our institutions. This is a chain, and this chain defines modern India," he said.

Also read: SIR row: CJP threatens protests if CEC Gyanesh Kumar does not resign in 48 hours


Gandhi argued that if the vote is destroyed, the Constitution loses its power and ceases to function. "If our Constitution has been destroyed, our laws are illegal, and if our laws are illegal, our institutions are meaningless," he said.

Framing what he called the central question, Gandhi said the issue was larger than the ballot. "This is not just an attack on the vote. This is an attack on the idea, on the basic infrastructure, on the expression of every single Indian person," he said. "We have been saying it again and again that there is a problem with the vote."

Claiming that he had presented proof, Gandhi said there was "more than enough information" to establish "100 per cent certainty, not 99 per cent" that the Lok Sabha elections, the 2024 election and Assembly elections were being rigged. He said the people at the top of that list were those he called "the conspirators".

Addressing Kumar directly, Gandhi said the CEC's actions amounted to "an act against the Indian nation". "This is not just some small rigging of an election. This is an attack on the Constitution of India. This is an attack on the legal structure of our country, and you are the man who is supposed to ensure that the vote was protected," he said.

Gandhi demanded that Kumar resign immediately.

He said the Congress had enough information to prove its allegations "with certainty" and warned that "there are going to be consequences". "We are not going to let democracy be destroyed in India and sit silent," he said.

Turning to the two Election Commissioners, Gandhi claimed they began opposing Kumar after the Congress started raising the "vote chori" issue in Maharashtra and Haryana. He said his own questions were being ignored. "Please understand what these two gentlemen are saying. They are saying that the vote does not exist in India anymore," he said, adding that the man they hold responsible, Kumar, had been chosen by the Prime Minister and "not by anybody less".

Gandhi alleged that the letters raised by the two Election Commissioners drew no action because Kumar had "protectors" above him, namely the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and others, whose pictures he said the party had shown at the press conference. He claimed that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister had "attacked and destroyed the democratic architecture of this country".

Saying that "the truth of the Indian electoral system has been revealed", Gandhi claimed the Congress had material that would leave "absolutely no doubt". He said the country was in a place where it had never been since 1947. "Our elections are fundamentally broken," he said. He argued that laws passed by Parliament were open to question because the vote had been destroyed, as was the capture of institutions.

Gandhi said "vote chori" leads to "kanoon chori" (theft of laws) and from there to "sanstha chori" (theft of institutions). "If the vote has been stolen, and the MPs sitting in Parliament are there based on a stolen vote, then any law they are making is illegal," he said.

Anti-incumbency remarks

Gandhi also claimed that anti-incumbency, which he described as a fundamental force in India that resists every government and spares no leader, appeared to work differently for the BJP. Saying the Congress had been looking for an answer to where the country's biggest political force had gone, he claimed the party had now found it.

He said the same thing happened to leader after leader, affecting Congress leaders and regional parties, but never Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah or the BJP.

Citing Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Gandhi said states that had swung between parties for decades saw anti-incumbency "suddenly" disappear. He said Haryana had swung from one party to another for 50 years, and Uttar Pradesh between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP.

Gandhi said anti-incumbency does not exist in Saddam Hussein's Iraq or in North Korea. "There is no democracy on this planet where anti-incumbency does not exist," he said, adding that this had been a puzzle for the Congress.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi had announced the press conference in a post on X. "The enemies of the Constitution have been exposed. Justice will be served. I will address a press conference at 4 pm. #VoteChori," he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi had announced the press conference in a post on X. "The enemies of the Constitution have been exposed. Justice will be served. I will address a press conference at 4 pm. #VoteChori," he wrote.

The controversy erupted after a media report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process and other electoral matters. The reported disagreements concerned Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.

Also read: ‘Anti-incumbency does not exist in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or North Korea’: Rahul Gandhi asks why it ‘disappears’ for PM Modi and BJP

The EC has rejected the suggestion that these amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised at the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process.

It maintained that all decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners. The Commission has also disputed allegations that electoral rolls or elections were manipulated.

Opposition steps up attack

Gandhi had earlier accused the EC, the BJP and the RSS of committing an "act of treason" over alleged "vote chori". Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said those responsible should face action if allegations of election manipulation were established.

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanded a fresh electoral-roll revision. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also demanded action against Kumar, while AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal has sought cancellation of the SIR exercise and restoration of an earlier electoral roll. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav have also questioned the EC's handling of electoral rolls.

Separately, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday threatened to launch protests if Kumar does not resign within 48 hours. Addressing a press conference, Dipke called Kumar the country's "biggest anti-national" and alleged that the EC under him was deciding who could vote.

The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on September 29 to discuss the EC controversy and the wider political situation, according to party sources. The Congress has intensified its criticism of the SIR exercise, while the BJP and the EC have defended the process.