Rahul Gandhi Sparks Political Firestorm Over Allegations Against Election Commission During US Visit
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again stirred a political controversy, this time with remarks made during an address to the Indian diaspora in Boston, where he accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of being “compromised” and questioned the integrity of the country’s electoral process.
Gandhi’s comments have drawn sharp criticism from the ruling BJP, which labeled him a “traitor” and linked his statements to his legal troubles in the ongoing National Herald case.
During his speech, Gandhi pointed to what he described as serious irregularities during the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
He claimed that the number of votes cast in the state exceeded the total adult population, an anomaly he suggested was impossible under normal circumstances.
“In simple terms, more votes were counted in the Maharashtra Assembly elections than there are adults residing in Maharashtra,” Gandhi alleged, adding that the Election Commission had reported a voting figure at 5:30 PM on polling day.
However, according to him, between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM — the scheduled time for polling to end — an additional 6.5 million votes were cast, a figure he argued was physically impossible to achieve.
Explaining his reasoning, Gandhi said, “It takes around three minutes for one person to cast their vote. If you calculate the time, it would mean that voting lines should have stretched well into the early hours of the next morning, until about 2 AM, which did not happen.
” He suggested that this discrepancy points to deeper flaws within the system and an electoral process that lacks transparency.
The 2024 Maharashtra elections resulted in a resounding victory for the BJP-led Maha Yuti alliance, which secured 235 out of the 288 seats in the state legislature.
The opposition coalition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), suffered a heavy defeat, managing only 50 seats, while the Congress was reduced to just 16.
Gandhi further alleged that when his party demanded access to the video footage of the polling process, the Election Commission not only denied the request but subsequently changed the legal provisions, making it impossible for political parties to demand video evidence of the vote count in the future.
“The Election Commission’s refusal to share the footage, combined with changes in the rules, makes it very clear to us that the institution is compromised. There is something deeply wrong with the way the system is functioning,” Gandhi stated.
However, officials from the Election Commission pushed back against Gandhi’s allegations, arguing that the comparison between estimated adult population figures and the number of registered voters was flawed. One senior EC official noted, “The last Census has not been completed yet.
Population projection estimates cannot be treated as hard data and directly compared to voter registration numbers.”
In response to Gandhi’s comments, the BJP launched a scathing attack. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as a desperate attempt to divert attention from the ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation into the National Herald case, which has embroiled both Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Sonia Gandhi.
At a press conference, Patra accused Gandhi of using international platforms to discredit Indian democratic institutions, and went so far as to call him a “traitor” for criticizing the Election Commission on foreign soil.
“You are attacking the Election Commission because you are frustrated with the ED’s action in the National Herald case. But no matter how much you try to deflect, the agencies work on facts, and the National Herald case is clear-cut.
You and your mother will be held accountable for the embezzlement of crores of rupees, and you will face the legal consequences,” Patra declared.
The National Herald case centers on allegations that the Gandhis, through their control of Young Indian Pvt. Ltd, illegally acquired the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) — the publisher of the once-prominent newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938.
Patra concluded his attack by stating, “This is not just about insulting the Election Commission, or Indian democracy, it is about the crime of siphoning off the country’s money. You and your mother will not be able to escape the consequences.”
The war of words between the Congress and the BJP has further intensified the already charged political climate, with Gandhi’s comments drawing both support and condemnation on social media and across the political spectrum.
