Overview

• Rahul Gandhi told reporters on August 7 that the Election Commission aided the BJP in manipulating voter rolls during the 2024 Maharashtra assembly and Karnataka elections.
• He identified five categories of fraud—duplicate voters, fake or invalid addresses, bulk registrations at single addresses, invalid photographs and misuse of Form 6—and alleged over 100,000 votes were stolen in the Mahadevapura constituency.
• Gandhi said the ECI refused to provide machine-readable voter lists and planned to destroy polling-station CCTV footage, which he cited as evidence of institutional collusion.
• The poll body issued a fact-check and circulated an oath form under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, demanding that Gandhi either submit a sworn declaration or retract his claims.
• Karnataka’s chief electoral officer separately asked Gandhi to name allegedly ineligible electors and return a signed declaration so formal proceedings can begin.