Rahul Gandhi, through a press conference, once again raised a barrage of questions against the Election Commission (EC), alleging large-scale vote deletion to rig elections.
SNPNEWS.IN News Update, Sep 25: On September 18, 2025, at 10 AM, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, held a significant press conference at the Indira Bhawan Auditorium in New Delhi. The conference was centered on allegations of vote theft, which he had previously described as a “hydrogen bomb” statement. The Congress party presented it as evidence of rigging in the elections.
Previously, on August 7, Rahul Gandhi held a press conference at the AICC Headquarters, New Delhi, where he claimed that 1,00,250 votes were “stolen” in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura Assembly constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On August 8, he released a video alleging vote theft in the elections of Maharashtra, Haryana, and Karnataka.
During the Voter Rights Yatra in Bihar from August 17–31, Rahul Gandhi labeled the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a “conspiracy to steal votes in Bihar elections.” He stated that “both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen across the country.”
The September 18 press conference focused on Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of vote theft. He claimed that over 1 lakh votes were systematically deleted in a Karnataka Assembly constituency during the previous Lok Sabha elections. He alleged that this rigging targeted voters from Dalit, Adivasi, minority, and OBC communities, who typically vote for opposition parties.
He cited the example of a 63-year-old woman named Godabai from Aland, Karnataka, who applied to remove 12 voters from the voter list but was denied. He described this as part of the “factory of vote theft,” calling it a milestone to expose to the youth.
Targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Rahul stated that the Karnataka CID sent 18 letters over 18 months, requesting details like IP addresses and OTPs, but received no response. He called the CEC a “protector of those destroying Indian democracy.”
Clarification on Prior Press Conferences on Vote Theft
Press conference titled “Wear seat belts”, before Rahul Gandhi’s September 18, 2025 press conference on the issue of vote rigging against the Election Commission, below is a detailed account of previous press conferences or incidents where Rahul Gandhi had made similar allegations:
● August 7, 2025 – AICC Headquarters, New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi held a press conference where he first raised the issue of 1,00,250 votes being “stolen” in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura Assembly constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He alleged that the rigging involved:
11,965 duplicate voters
40,009 fake addresses
10,452 bulk voters at a single address
4,132 invalid photos
33,692 misuse of Form 6
He accused the EC and BJP of colluding and called it a “crime against the Constitution” and an “atom bomb on democracy.”Congress launched the votechori.in website to allow people to demand digital voter lists and support the fight against vote theft.
● August 8, 2025 – Video Release: Rahul Gandhi released a video on social media (X), alleging vote theft in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Karnataka elections. He claimed a mismatch between public sentiment and election results, raising questions about the fairness of the electoral process.
● August 17–31, 2025 – Voter Rights Yatra in Bihar: During the Voter Rights Yatra, Rahul Gandhi accused the EC’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of being a “conspiracy to steal votes in Bihar elections.” He reiterated that elections were being stolen nationwide.
On August 23 in Gaya, Bihar, he directly targeted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, warning of action against them if the INDIA alliance came to power.
● September 1, 2025 – Muzaffarpur, Bihar: At the concluding event of the Voter Rights Yatra, Rahul announced that he would soon reveal a “hydrogen bomb” of evidence on vote theft, after which PM Narendra Modi would “not be able to show his face.” He called the Gujarat model a “vote theft model” that was scaled nationally.
● September 11, 2025 – Media Interaction, New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi reiterated vote theft allegations, claiming he had already provided “black-and-white evidence” and would soon present more “explosive evidence.” He accused the EC of enabling vote theft in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Karnataka and used the slogan “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” (Vote Thief, Vacate the Throne).
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stated that this was an organized effort of vote theft involving the Election Commission. She also called the CEC a “protector of those destroying Indian democracy” and questioned why the EC, despite being an independent institution, was working under government pressure.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey labeled the press conference a “conspiracy to weaken Indian democracy.” He demanded that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigate the matter and catch the “conspirators.” Other BJP leaders claimed that Congress was making excuses for its defeat in the 2024 elections and that the allegations were baseless.
The opposition has begun preparing to raise this as a major issue for the 2025 local and Rajya Sabha elections.
The Election Commission dismissed Rahul’s allegations as “baseless,” stating that online deletion of voter lists is not possible due to the transparency of the process.