Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP, RSS and Election Commission of involvement in “vote chori” on Wednesday, calling the alleged practice a direct attack on the Constitution. His remarks followed an Indian Express investigation reporting that two election commissioners had repeatedly questioned decisions connected to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a post on X, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha described the alleged vote theft as a crime against Indians. He accused the BJP, RSS and poll panel of committing “an act of treason” and said justice would follow. These are Gandhi’s allegations; the reported objections within the commission do not, by themselves, establish that votes were stolen or that anyone committed treason. Gandhi also shared a video of earlier remarks in which he warned Election Commission officials about accountability.
The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi placed objections on record at least 14 times over 10 months. According to its investigation, their concerns involved decisions and orders they said had been issued without their knowledge during the electoral-roll revision.
The reported objections covered matters central to how voter lists are maintained, including the addition of new voters, deletion and restoration of names, and access to electoral-roll data. The newspaper also reported concerns about a change to Form 6, the application used for new voter registration, and whether control of voter data was becoming more centralised. Those questions have drawn attention because the SIR affects who appears on electoral rolls and how voters can address errors in their entries.
Gandhi’s statement turned the reported internal objections into a wider political confrontation. Congress has previously alleged irregularities in voter lists and criticised the SIR. The latest report gave the party a new basis to demand answers about how decisions were made within the three-member poll panel.
The Election Commission has disputed the suggestion that the reported objections meant its final SIR decisions lacked agreement. EC officials said all commission decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were taken unanimously with the approval of both election commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner. The poll panel has also maintained that the revision is intended to update voter lists and remove ineligible or duplicate entries.
The distinction between objections raised during deliberations and the approval of final decisions is now central to the dispute. The Indian Express report raises questions about the handling of specific electoral-roll steps, while the EC says the commission ultimately acted unanimously. Gandhi has framed the matter as an attack on voters’ constitutional rights, but his accusations of organised vote theft and treason remain contested political claims.
