The Congress on Thursday intensified its attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing both of collusion in alleged large-scale voter fraud during the 2024 general elections.

Addressing the media, Congress spokesperson and AICC Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera claimed that BJP MP and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur’s recent press conference had inadvertently strengthened the Opposition’s charge of “vote theft” first raised by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on August 7.

According to Khera, the Congress took six months to collect and verify voter data for a single assembly segment – Mahadevapura in Bengaluru Central – because the party was denied access to the electronic voter list. “Anurag Thakur managed to get the electronic data for six Lok Sabha constituencies in just six days. How did he get it? If the Election Commission has this data, why is it not provided to us?” he asked.

Khera alleged that this disparity proved “collusion” between the BJP and the ECI. “Anurag Thakur’s evidence is criminal evidence. We demand that it be handed over to us. His press conference has exposed the truth – there is coordination between the BJP and the Election Commission to manipulate voter lists,” he said.

He further demanded that the electronic voter list for Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, be made public. “If we get Varanasi’s list, we will prove that on counting day the Prime Minister received a booster dose of fake voters. Without that, he would have lost. Modi is sitting in the Prime Minister’s chair by stealing it,” Khera asserted.
The controversy began on August 7, when Rahul Gandhi alleged that over one lakh fake votes were registered in Mahadevapura alone, enabling the BJP to secure a decisive lead there and overturn losses from other assembly segments in Bengaluru Central. Gandhi presented a detailed breakdown, claiming duplicate voters, false addresses, bulk registrations at single addresses, invalid photographs, and the misuse of new voter forms. He said a team of 40 Congress workers had verified each entry over six months.

According to Gandhi, these findings confirmed longstanding suspicions of systematic electoral manipulation across India. He accused the ECI of deliberately refusing to share electronic voter lists and CCTV footage from polling stations, and of changing rules to reduce the retention period of footage to just 45 days. “This is a crime against the Constitution and the flag. The ECI is colluding with the BJP to destroy democracy,” Gandhi declared.

Six days later, on August 13, Anurag Thakur held his own press conference, accusing Opposition MPs Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Abhishek Banerjee, and Akhilesh Yadav of benefiting from “vote chori” in Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Diamond Harbour, and Kannauj, respectively. He also targeted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav over alleged voter list irregularities in Kolathur and Mainpuri.

Thakur presented slides alleging large numbers of fake and illegal voters in these constituencies, and accused the Opposition of protecting “vote banks of illegal Bangladeshi infiltration” while opposing the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. He dismissed the Opposition’s claims of ECI bias, saying: “Chor machaye shor-the thief is making the noise.”

However, Khera argued that Thakur’s ability to produce detailed voter data for six constituencies in less than a week revealed a double standard. “When we raised the issue, Rahul Gandhi received an Election Commission notice within hours. More than 24 hours after Thakur’s conference, he has not received a notice,” Khera said, questioning the ECI’s impartiality.

The Congress spokesperson insisted that if the BJP could access such data, the Opposition must be given the same. “Nullify the Lok Sabha elections fought on fake voter lists. The ruling party’s own MP has proved Rahul Gandhi right,” Khera said, adding that the party would continue to press for the release of Varanasi’s voter list.

The dispute has further deepened the standoff between the Opposition and the ruling party in Parliament, with repeated adjournments over the Bihar voter roll revision and allegations of widespread electoral fraud. Both sides are now questioning the Election Commission’s conduct-an unusual scenario where even the ruling party appears to criticise the institution.

While the BJP has used its voter list findings to accuse the Opposition of “rigging” seats it won, Congress maintains that the very speed at which Thakur obtained his data shows that the ECI is selectively providing sensitive information.
Khera closed with a sharp message: “We thank Anurag Thakur for proving our point-elections are being fought on fake voter lists. The Prime Minister’s victory in Varanasi is not legitimate. And the country is now saying-vote thief, leave the throne.”