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EYE ON INDIA                                                     SEPTEMBER 26, 2025        |  The Indian Eye                    8


         Rahul Gandhi’s “Vote Theft” Gambit:





              A High-Stakes Strategy to Reframe




                                                 Indian Politics





            The Congress leader’s allegations against the Election Commission are part of a calculated

         attempt to shift the political battlefield from electoral defeat to the legitimacy of the system itself.



        OUR BUREAU                                                                                            and enforcement agencies. On the
                                                                                                              other hand, absent concrete proof,
        New Delhi
                                                                                                              such allegations risk being dismissed
              ongress leader Rahul Gand-                                                                      as excuses for repeated losses. Mid-
              hi’s latest salvo against the                                                                   dle-ground voters, who value stabil-
        CElection Commission of India                                                                         ity, may see the Congress’s narrative
        (ECI) has reignited a stormy political                                                                as a refusal to accept democratic ver-
        debate. By accusing the poll body of                                                                  dicts.
        shielding those behind “mass voter                                                                        Moreover, if Gandhi fails to
        deletions” and promising to unveil                                                                    substantiate his claims with hard
        “black and white proof” of manipula-                                                                  evidence—detailed data, legal chal-
        tion, Gandhi has deliberately escalat-                                                                lenges, or whistleblower testimony—
        ed the stakes in the contest between                                                                  the BJP will brand him as a habitu-
        the Opposition and the ruling Bhara-                                                                  al alarmist. The metaphor Thakur
        tiya Janata Party (BJP). His choice of                                                                used—comparing Gandhi’s “hydro-
        words—“vote  theft”  and  “destroyed                                                                  gen  bomb”  promises  to  “firecrack-
        democracy”—was not accidental. It                                                                     ers”—captures the risk:  overprom-
        was part of a broader strategy to chal-                                                               ising and underdelivering could turn
        lenge the credibility of India’s elector-  Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi adresses a press conference at the Congress   the narrative into self-sabotage.
        al process and to portray himself as                                                                      Yet Gandhi’s move must also be
        the custodian of democracy.                Party Headquarter, in New Delhi on Thursday (ANI Photo/Rahul Singh)  seen in the broader arc of his poli-
            At his press conference in New                                                                    tics. Over the past three years, his
        Delhi, Gandhi cited the case of Kar-  president Mallikarjun Kharge and   dismissed  Gandhi’s  charges  as  the  rhetoric has increasingly  centered
        nataka’s Aland constituency, where  Priyanka Gandhi threw their weight   “politics of allegations,” mocking  on safeguarding institutions, protect-
        he  claimed  over  6,000  votes  were  behind him, calling the issue “a fight   the  Congress  leader  for  repeatedly  ing the Constitution, and warning of
        targeted  for  deletion.  By  highlight-  for democracy and the Constitution.”   backtracking after failing to produce  democratic backsliding. The “vote
        ing a specific instance, he sought to  The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), while   evidence. Telangana BJP chief N  theft” allegations are consistent with
        ground his allegation in verifiable de-  backing the seriousness of the charge,   Ramchander Rao went further, call-  this positioning. Gandhi is not mere-
        tail, lending weight to a charge often  accused the Congress of opportun-  ing the press conference “a big joke”  ly contesting electoral outcomes; he
        dismissed as rhetoric. Importantly, he  ism, reminding that AAP had flagged   and branding Gandhi a “joker.” Shiv  is contesting the legitimacy of the
        linked the episode to a larger pattern,  similar discrepancies in Delhi earlier   Sena’s Shaina NC derided him as a  framework within which those out-
        arguing that “methods by which votes  this year without receiving Congress’s   “flop  professor”  engaged  in  theat-  comes occur.
        are added and deleted” exist across  support.                       rics, while Rajya Sabha MP Manan      Rahul Gandhi’s  allegations of
        constituencies.                       This tension underlines both the   Kumar Mishra accused him of fabri-  “vote theft” are not merely a reac-
            The political calculation is clear.  strength and fragility of the INDIA   cating claims without proof.  tion to electoral defeat but a strategic
        After a series of electoral setbacks,  bloc. On one hand, allegations of vot-  The BJP’s counter-strategy is  pivot. They aim to energize Congress
        Congress cannot afford to appear  er manipulation provide a unifying   as calculated as Gandhi’s offensive:  workers,  unify  the  Opposition,  and
        permanently defeated. By shifting fo-  theme for Opposition parties battling   to frame him as irresponsible, ha-  cast the BJP as an illegitimate ruler
        cus from outcomes to process, Gand-  an entrenched BJP. On the other,   bitually wrong, and even dangerous  of a manipulated democracy. But
        hi is reframing the narrative: the  Gandhi’s leadership and Congress’s   to  democratic faith.  By portraying  the gamble comes with risks: without
        BJP’s victories, he implies, are not  timing often invite skepticism about   Gandhi as undermining the very in-  evidence, it may reinforce Gandhi’s
        purely the product of popular man-  whether the party  is motivated by   stitutions he claims to defend, the  critics rather than silence them.
        date but of manipulation. This keeps  genuine democratic concern or elec-  ruling party seeks to turn his narra-  In India’s charged political cli-
        the Congress base engaged, prevents  toral expediency.              tive on its head.                 mate, where perception often out-
        organizational  demoralization,  and                                    For  Gandhi,  the  allegations  weighs proof, Gandhi’s gambit may
        gives the party a rallying cry ahead of   THE BJP’S COUNTERATTACK   are a double-edged sword. On one  yet succeed in shaping the national
        upcoming state contests.                                            hand, they resonate with a public  debate. Whether it strengthens his
            Interestingly, Gandhi’s allega-     he ruling party and its allies   already anxious about institutional  credibility or further erodes it will
        tions drew mixed responses from         were quick to hit back. Union   neutrality, especially given frequent  depend on his ability to back rhetoric
        other Opposition parties. Congress  TMinister     Anurag   Thakur   debates about the ECI, judiciary,  with substance.


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