The BJP has hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of vote theft and collusion between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ruling party. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused the Congress of being involved in scams and habitually blaming others after electoral defeats. He said Rahul Gandhi has a pattern of targeting institutions — sometimes blaming EVMs, sometimes VVPATs, sometimes the ECI itself, and even the public — without presenting factual evidence. Bhatia stressed that if Rahul genuinely seeks legal recourse, he must follow due process and file a formal complaint instead of making unsubstantiated claims in the media. “When constitutional bodies ask for proof, he refuses to provide it,” Bhatia said.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier alleged that collusion between the ECI and BJP allowed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure a third term. Citing Mahadevapura Assembly segment under Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency, he claimed 1,00,250 votes were “stolen” through five methods — 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 with fake or incorrect addresses, 10,452 voters registered at the same address, 4,132 with mismatched photos, and 33,692 cases of misused Form-6. Rahul said the BJP-ECI “theft” was exposed, which he linked to the introduction of the SIR system, alleging its purpose was to stop poor citizens from voting. He further claimed that without 10–15 “extra” seats, BJP would not have formed the government, and the INDIA bloc would be in power today.
