The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he accused the Election Commission (EC) of helping the BJP steal votes. Gandhi made the allegation on Thursday, saying that the Lok Sabha seat of Bangalore Central, which the Congress lost by less than 3 per cent, was an example of “vote chori” or vote theft. He claimed that the EC allowed fake and duplicate voting to take place in the constituency.
In response, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra dismissed Gandhi’s accusations, calling them “selective outrage.” Patra questioned why Congress did not raise similar complaints in states where it performed well.
“When you win in Himachal Pradesh or Telangana, you don’t say the Election Commission did a good job, nor do you accuse it of fraud. You stay silent,” Patra said during a press conference. “But when you lose, suddenly the EC becomes biased?”
He also pointed out that Congress celebrated winning 99 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “If the EC is really compromised, as Rahul Gandhi claims, then why is the Congress celebrating its wins? What are they celebrating if democracy has failed?” Patra asked.
The BJP leader said that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi only question the EC when the results are not in their favour. “This shows that their outrage is not about protecting democracy, but about losing elections,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had earlier cited data from a constituency in Karnataka to back his claim and called the alleged manipulation “a crime against the Constitution.”
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has asked Rahul Gandhi to submit evidence of his claims under oath. The chief electoral officers of both Karnataka and Maharashtra have written to him, urging him to provide details of the voters he says were wrongly excluded or included, along with a signed declaration.
