If Rahul Gandhi is Right, India’s Democracy May Already Be Broken

On August 7, 2025, Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi took to the stage at the AICC headquarters with the kind of urgency usually reserved for national emergencies. It wasn’t a fiery rally speech or some sort of political jab. This time, it was a carefully presented accusation, one that, if proven true (in a court of law), could shake the very foundations of India’s democracy.

Standing before journalists and reporters he had invited, Gandhi alleged that in a single Assembly segment of Karnataka, Mahadevapura, over one lakh “fake votes” had been inserted into the electoral rolls to tilt the balance in favour of the BJP. This, he argued, was not just about one constituency but part of a broader pattern across the country.

And his claim carried an interesting conclusion: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi needed to steal only 25 seats to remain in power in 2024.”

For a nation that prides itself on being the world’s largest democracy, such an accusation was nothing short of volcanic. According to Gandhi, there were 11,965 duplicate voters, more than 40,000 with fake or invalid addresses, and another 10,452 voters supposedly crammed into bulk registrations under the same address, including the now infamous claim that 80 voters were shown to be living in a single small room. He also said 4,132 entries had invalid photos, and over 33,000 registrations allegedly misused Form 6, the form meant for new voters.

In Gandhi’s telling, these are far from minor clerical errors. Rather, they are deliberate manipulations, part of a pattern of what he calls “vote chori” (vote theft). And this was just one Assembly segment. The implication was that similar irregularities could exist across multiple constituencies.

Gandhi’s accusations feel heavy given the specificity of these numbers and also in his assertion that they were the product of a six-month Congress-led investigation in Karnataka. If such a claim holds even partial truth, it would mean the last general election was not a fair contest but perhaps a staged outcome, a possibility that strikes at the very heart of the “world’s largest democracy.”

The Commission Responds, But Without Answers

The Election Commission of India’s reaction was quick but, seemingly very evasive. Instead of directly countering the specific numbers Gandhi put forward, the poll body called his remarks “misleading” and said he had not followed proper procedure for filing complaints.

Their main demand was for Gandhi to sign a formal declaration under oath. Without that, they said, his statements amounted to nothing more than baseless allegations. They also reminded him that the Supreme Court had previously rejected the Congress’ plea for machine-readable voter lists, and that CCTV footage from polling booths is retained only if an official petition is filed.

All of that might be legally correct. But none of it answered the many elephants in the room: are Gandhi’s numbers wrong? Are the people he citedm such as those with multiple registrations or house numbers listed as “zero”, actually genuine voters? Is it true that some addresses housed dozens of registered voters? These are questions that do not require court petitions to at least be acknowledged and factually addressed.

The Mystery of the 80-Person Room 

Reporters from different news outlet, including The Lallantop, even went to one of the addresses cited by Gandhi- a cramped 120-square-foot space allegedly home to 80 registered voters. The owner denied the claim, saying it was a temporary home for migrant workers who may have used the address to get voter IDs but did not actually vote there.

That counter-narrative is believable, but it only addresses one instance. It does not clear the larger cloud hanging over the entire segment’s voter rolls. Moreover, the owner, when contacted by The Lallantop, initially said he was associated with the BJP but later defected from his claim. He stated that over the past 10 years, around 80 people had come and gone, possibly applying for voter cards during their stay. Which means, they stayed there in rent for only 1-2 months, applied for a permanent voter card, then left? How did all of them remain on the rolls anyway? It rather brings up more questions than answers.

Gandhi, meanwhile, has been unyielding. He says he has already taken an oath in Parliament to uphold the Constitution, and that his public statements should be considered part of that oath. “I am saying it to the people publicly, take it as an oath,” he declared.

BJP's Rebuttal

The BJP, unsurprisingly, has gone on the offensive, accusing Gandhi of spreading misinformation and trying to undermine public trust in democratic institutions. They have even pointed to alleged voter roll issues in Congress-ruled areas to suggest hypocrisy. Some BJP Leaders also pointed out that when Congress wins elections, they rarely complain about the voting process, but when they lose, they accuse the Election Commission of bias and procedural failure.

But Gandhi’s charges have also drawn wider calls for accountability. Leaders from other opposition parties have urged the Supreme Court to step in. Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has lodged a formal complaint and promised to provide evidence for a broader investigation.

When the Referee Loses Trust

Now, the core concern is not just about whether Rahul Gandhi is right or wrong, it is actually about the Election Commission’s unwillingness, so far, to engage in a transparent, fact-by-fact rebuttal. By focusing on procedural arguments instead of addressing the actual voter roll anomalies, the Commission risks appearing defensive, even if it is entirely innocent of wrongdoing.

In a democracy, perception matters almost as much as reality. If citizens begin to believe elections are rigged, and see no clear evidence to the contrary, the legitimacy of every elected government will come under question. And in this case, it is the BJP.

The strength of Indian democracy has always been that, no matter the political fights, the final result was trusted because the process was trusted. Allegations of mass voter fraud cut right through that trust. And when the very referee, in this case, the Election Commission, does not convincingly address the allegations, the match itself begins to look fixed.

Notably, in the past decade, accusations of voter list manipulation, misuse of central agencies, and electoral malpractice have surfaced repeatedly, often dismissed by the authorities as isolated incidents or opposition propaganda. But rarely have such allegations been presented with such statistical detail and framed so directly as evidence of a stolen national mandate.

Whats at Stake

If Gandhi is correct, there is a real possibility that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a contest that shaped the next five years of India’s future, may have been decided by manipulation rather than by the will of the people. That would mean democracy in India is not just under threat, but already deeply compromised.

If he is wrong, then the Election Commission could easily restore confidence by publicly dismantling his claims, number by number, with verifiable records. Yet, until that happens, the vacuum will remain- a vacuum filled with suspicion, speculation, and deepening mistrust. And people are feeling it.

The strength of Indian democracy has always been its ability to absorb political conflict while retaining public faith in its core institutions. But faith is a fragile currency. Once lost, it is rarely restored.

Also Read: ‘This Is Not an Election, It’s Theft’: Rahul Gandhi Drops Vote Fraud Bombshell