New Delhi, Aug 2 (UNI) Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi today attacked the India’s electoral machinery, alleging widespread rigging in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and claiming that the country’s election system is “already dead”.
“The election system in India is already dead. Please remember one thing the Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If even 10 to 15 seats were rigged and we suspect the real number could be as high as 70, 80 or even 100, he would not be the Prime Minister today,” alleged Rahul Gandhi while speaking at the Annual Legal Conclave at Vigyan Bhawan here.
Gandhi further claimed that the Congress Party has gathered concrete proof of electoral fraud. “In the coming few days, we will present undeniable evidence showing how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged and how it was rigged,” he said.
He accused the Election Commission of failing in its constitutional duty, stating, “It is now very clear that the institution meant to uphold and protect the Constitution has been obliterated and taken over.”
“I’ve had suspicions about the election system ever since 2014,” Rahul stressed.
“Even during the Gujarat Assembly elections, I sensed something was wrong. The pattern of sweeping victories with the Congress not winning a single seat in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat seemed unnatural to me,” Gandhi said.
He claimed that while concerns were previously raised within political circles, the lack of a tangible proof prevented public action. However, a turning point came during the Maharashtra elections. “In the Lok Sabha polls we emerged victorious. But just four months later in the Vidhan Sabha elections, we did not just lose, we were obliterated.” Three formidable parties suddenly just evaporated. That’s when I knew something was seriously wrong.”
The Congress leader claimed his party initiated a detailed investigation into possible electoral fraud, beginning in Maharashtra. “We discovered that between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, over one crore new voters appeared on the rolls and the bulk of those votes went to the BJP,” he said.
Accusing the poll body of not being transparent, particularly in its handling of voter lists, Rahul said, “The Commission refuses to provide electronic versions of the voter list. Instead, they give us paper versions and those documents are scan-proof and copy-protected. You can’t even put them through a scanner. Why would a democratic institution protect voter lists in this way?”
Claiming six months of meticulous investigation, Gandhi asserted that the party now has irrefutable evidence. “We now have proof, not speculation or suspicion. On paper, from documents obtained from the Election Commission, we found that in one constituency, 6.5 lakh people voted, and 1.5 lakh of those votes were fake.”
Rahul alleges large-scale electoral fraud, claims Indian election system ‘already dead’
