Dead Voters, Duplicate IDs, and a Vanishing Democracy

“Of the people, by the people, for the people.” The first thing you learn about democracy is that citizens are the ones who elect their representatives, and that is their right as stated in the Constitution of India. This vote is the backbone that forms the parliament of the world’s largest democracy. Therefore, the independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a constitutional institution is of utmost importance to conduct unbiased elections. There have been heated discussions about electoral process manipulation since the 2024 General Election, and the Opposition has accused the ECI of involvement. In June, Congress requested electronic data from ECI. Still, the commission denied, saying it never provided anyone with the electronic data list and had the Supreme Court’s order to back itself. 

But during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar in 2025, ECI uploaded the 2003 Electoral Roll of Bihar. This made Congress question why it could not provide the Opposition with Maharashtra’s list. And why is Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra’s Chief Minister (and an active member of the BJP), answering such queries instead of the ECI? 

Rahul Gandhi’s Claims 

The leader of the Opposition has been asking for electronic data and surveillance footage since the 2024 Maharashtra Elections, as it is easier to inspect. Not only were they denied the data, but the law regarding the surveillance footage laws was amended. This would make the seemingly transparent system more opaque. 

On 7th August, Rahul Gandhi held a shocking press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Headquarters in New Delhi. The Leader of the Opposition alleged that there was a theft of 1,00,250 votes in the Mahadevapura Assembly from the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha 2024 elections. He came prepared with 18 slides worth of PPT before the reporters.

This scam was, according to Mr. Gandhi’s team, carried out in five ways:

1. Duplicate voters:- 11,965 same voters appearing in multiple voter lists, same voter with the same Election Photo Identity Card, which is a unique 10-digit number assigned to every Indian citizen (EPIC IDs) in multiple states. 

2. Fake and invalid addresses:- 40,009 voters either don't exist or are named 0 and #. Such addresses are unverifiable, and if addresses can’t be proved, how are they on official voter lists?

3. Bulk voters at a single address:- For example, from the ECI data, in house number 35, 80 voters lived together, in a single house! 10,452 voters in total were found residing in single-room houses or commercial establishments. 

4. Invalid photos:- 4,132 indistinguishable or micro-sized photos that can’t identify the voter. Shouldn't these kind of photos be rejected by EC? Or gibberish was filled in the column for father’s or husband’s names. 

5. Misuse of Form 6:- Form 6 is used for registering first-time voters. 33,692 voters were registered and weaponized. He highlighted the case of a 70-year-old woman registering twice in a span of two months under Form 6, with a slightly different name. Mr. Gandhi claims this is why CCTV footage is not being provided, because either the old lady voted twice or someone else voted on her behalf.

BJP only needed 25 seats to win the 2024 elections, and they won just 25 Lok Sabha seats with a margin of 33,000 votes. This is the alleged vote chori.

Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party President) even claimed there was vote chori in the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, noting that they had filled 18,000 affidavits only to meet with silence from the Election Commission. Sharad Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), claimed that right before the recent Maharashtra elections, two persons approached him offering to secure 160 seats out of 288 for the Opposition. This time, the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, both parties usually misaligned with the Congress, were seen showing support to Mr. Gandhi. Even experts are calling this serious enough and clear for the courts to exercise their jurisdiction.

What's “Purification Drive’? 

Officially launched in March 2015, the prime objective was to have an error-free and authenticated voter list. EPIC data was linked with Aadhar, and improved image quality was achieved. Aimed to remove duplicates, entries of deceased persons, and migrated voters. Such revisions have been happening for a long time, but the experts note that this one’s timing, scale, and opacity coincide just before crucial elections. 

Therefore, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has fallen into deep political polarization, because the Opposition parties say that in the name of SIR, the Hindu-majority-led party is “cleaning up” voters who are averse to them. The word “purification” has a connection to the Hindutva ideology, as an upper caste thinking; therefore, it gets referred to as the purification drive. 

The process is questioned even more when voters are removed from the lists without any notice in advance, only discovered by voters on election day, when registration is too late, and one vote is lost in the void. The burden of proof falls on the individual, and as expected, the process is time-consuming and tedious, making it difficult for common people to work with. Many experts call this a “silent suppression,” and it is effective as even a small percentage removal of voters can change the results of an election. Despite these concerns, ECI still describes it as an important technical process, which they might not be wrong about, but the protection of voters’ right to vote doesn't have a solid protection system, creating a lack of trust between the public and ECI.

BJP’s Counteroffense

In this whole, many BJP MLAs and the party have supported the EIC, while bashing the Opposition and calling this a propaganda to create distrust in the constitutional bodies of the government. 

Anurag Thakur, former minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, on 13th August challenged Rahul Gandhi, claiming vote chori in Kerala’s Wayanad constituency represented by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Lok Sabha. However, this press conference seemingly backfired at the BJP, as people started asking how the BJP analyzed 6 constituencies so quickly. It took Congress 6 months to do so. Were they provided with electronic data? Because without electronic data, it is impossible to analyze 6 constituencies so quickly. 

Many Congress managers demanded that the ECI release data from the Varanasi seat after this press conference to see if there is any vote chori from his constituency as well, considering the Prime Minister won with a much smaller margin than his usual winning margins.

The Prime Minister had a chance to hold his first-ever press conference and seek clarification from the Election Commission during his congratulatory speech from the Red Fort on the occasion of India’s 79th Independence Day. On 15 August, the PM spoke for 103 minutes, the longest Red Fort address by any Indian Prime Minister, but contrary to public expectations, he made no mention of the scandal.

Many argue that an Independence Day speech should not be political, but when the issue in question challenges the credibility of India’s democracy—and by extension, his own credibility as Prime Minister—one would expect him to seize the moment to clear his name. Instead, public discourse shifted: Rahul Gandhi was attacked online for skipping the celebrations, while no one pressed the nation’s leader for answers.

Election Commission’s Stance

Initially, the Election Commission’s (ECI) only response was that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) should either sign a formal declaration or apologize to the nation. With this statement, the ECI implied that while a declaration may be necessary, it was not outright dismissing the facts raised, facts drawn directly from the Commission’s own data.

The Commission further said, “Political parties and their booth-level agents did not examine electoral rolls at the appropriate time, during the claims and objections period, and did not point out errors.”

On 13 August, former Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat criticized current CEC Gyanesh Kumar in an interview, saying he had “opened a Pandora’s box” before the election by mismanaging the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Rawat denied that it was a conspiracy to exclude voters but called it ill-timed mismanagement. On Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, he said the Commission should have immediately presented facts to the public, adding that during his tenure such claims were swiftly addressed through joint investigation teams that included complainants’ representatives. He also clarified that Rahul Gandhi was not required to sign an affidavit.

Finally, on 17 August, the ECI held a press conference to “clear the air.” Instead, it deepened public suspicion. Political analyst Yogendra Yadav called it “the most shameful press conference” he had witnessed in four decades of political life. Many outlets listed eight major questions the CEC either dodged or answered inadequately:

1. Why was Rahul Gandhi asked for an affidavit but not Anurag Thakur, who made similar rigging claims in Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Diamond Harbour, and Kannauj?

2. Why was CCTV footage from Maharashtra not shared with the Opposition? The CEC cited the “privacy of women voters,” a response widely ridiculed since CCTV is commonplace in public areas. The Opposition sought the footage to verify the claim that 8% of voting occurred after 5 pm, coinciding with narrowing margins in constituencies where their candidates led.

3. Why was machine-readable data withheld from the public and Opposition parties? Rahul argued that instead of 7-foot paper bundles, such data could have been analyzed in seconds.

4. Why conduct a rushed SIR in Bihar during floods and months before Assembly elections, when revisions are generally disallowed in election years? The CEC’s reply: “Revisions are required before the election, not after.”

5. How could 22 lakh voters out of 65 lakh be declared dead in six months, when they were alive on January rolls? The CEC said they had “died over the years”—raising questions about accuracy.

6. The CEC claimed booth-level officers had shared revised lists with panchayats in July, but voters from those panchayats denied it.

7. Why did the ECI publish the deleted voters’ list only after a Supreme Court order? Earlier disclosure could have allowed corrections.

8. Why does Maharashtra have more voters than adults in the state’s population? And why was CM Devendra Fadnavis responding instead of the Commission? The questions were avoided.

Even casual observers can see that such evasions from the ECI are troubling. Opposition leaders stressed that the ECI’s duty is not to counter the Opposition but to present facts transparently.

Supreme Court’s Stance

During the Bihar SIR, the Supreme Court refused to halt the process, stating it would not second-guess a constitutional body, but it questioned the timing: “There is nothing wrong with purging rolls, but if you do so just before elections, it inevitably gets linked to the polls. Aren’t you too late for this?”

The Court also warned that it would intervene if genuine cases of wrongful exclusion emerged: “Bring us 15 people who are alive yet struck off the rolls, and we will act.”

On 14 August, in an interim order, the Court directed district-wise and booth-level disclosure of removed voters on electoral officers’ websites, framing the issue as one of public trust rather than purely legal procedure.

Political Implications

If allegations of vote chori are true, the implications are dire. It would mean ruling parties are not only manipulating votes but discarding citizens’ choices altogether. For Congress, this scandal could revive its standing as a serious Opposition. For the BJP, it is a test to prove that it remains the people’s chosen party. For voters, it strikes at the heart of democracy itself.

What’s Next?

On 11 August, Opposition MPs staged a protest outside the ECI office, chanting “Vote chori band karo.” They were stopped within meters of the building, leading to confrontations with police and the detention of over 30 MPs.

That evening, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a dinner meeting where plans were finalized for Rahul Gandhi to lead a two-week yatra across 25 Bihar districts, focusing on voter exclusions. On 13 August, Rahul met with seven voters declared “dead” by the ECI. These individuals even appeared in court but were dismissed by the ECI’s lawyer as “drama.” Rahul is expected to meet more such voters, particularly from marginalized communities.

Meanwhile, Trinamool’s Mahua Moitra and Congress’s Pawan Khera have called for dismantling the 2024 Lok Sabha if both ruling and Opposition parties accept that fraud occurred. The INDIA bloc is also considering a motion to remove the CEC, claiming they hold the two-thirds parliamentary majority required.

This scandal represents the gravest challenge to India’s democracy in recent memory, testing whether the ECI can demonstrate impartiality and restore public faith. At the same time, it has given the weakened Opposition an opportunity to fulfill its constitutional duty: holding the ruling party accountable.

For Rahul Gandhi, it is a chance to step forward as the conscience of the Opposition. For voters, the next election season will not just be about choosing representatives, but about defending the very system on which India’s democracy stands.

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