Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations of “Criminal Fraud” Against Election Commission of India (ECI)

• Rahul Gandhi accuses the Election Commission of India (ECI) of creating over one lakh fake votes in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment of Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency.

• Allegations include multiple voter registrations within the same constituency, identical Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers across different states, and large numbers of voters listed at single addresses.

• Gandhi claims these discrepancies were part of a calculated plan to aid the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in marginal constituencies.

• The BJP won the Mahadevapura Assembly seat in 2023 with a margin of approximately 44,500 votes, but the increased margin in 2024 happened despite total accretions in the electoral roll being around 52,600 electors and actual voter count increasing only by around 20,000.

• The ECI’s defensive stance, demanding evidence be submitted ‘under oath’ and attributing electoral discrepancies to the failure by political parties to raise concerns during registration, is unsubstantiated.

• The Mahadevapura controversy underscores the urgent need for comprehensive electoral roll reform through door-to-door verification