Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday during a debate on electoral reforms, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the RSS and the BJP of attempting to undermine the fundamental right to vote, an act he described as “anti-national.”
He warned that a future government would “change the law retrospectively” and “come looking for” those responsible.
Gandhi outlined what he believes are essential components of electoral reform and criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for not responding to concerns raised by the Opposition, alleging that the Commission had been “captured” by the ruling establishment.
Raising a series of questions, Gandhi asked why the Chief Justice of India had been removed from the selection committee responsible for appointing Election Commissioners.
“I am on the panel but have no voice in the room,” he said, adding that the government seemed unusually determined to decide exactly who would serve on the Commission. He also noted that a 2023 amendment granted Election Commissioners immunity for actions taken while in office, something he said no previous government had ever done.
Gandhi further questioned a rule introduced on May 30, 2025, allowing CCTV footage from polling stations to be destroyed after 45 days of election results. “Why change the rule? Why destroy the footage?” he asked.
He argued that electoral reforms were “very simple” but claimed the government was unwilling to adopt them.
His proposals included sharing the complete voters’ list with all political parties a month before polling; preserving, rather than destroying, CCTV footage; allowing parties access to EVM architecture; and ensuring the Election Commission is held accountable.
Gandhi accused the Election Commission of working “in collusion with those in power” to shape elections in favour of the government. He claimed that election schedules were designed around Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign needs and alleged massive irregularities in voter rolls.
“We have a Brazilian who appears 22 times on Haryana’s voter list, and one woman whose name appeared 200 times. The Haryana election was stolen,” he said. He added that the EC had not explained the presence of lakhs of duplicate voters across states, including 1.2 lakh in Bihar.
Calling the manipulation of votes the greatest “anti-national act”, Gandhi said, “When you destroy the vote, you destroy the fabric of this country. Vote chori is an anti-national act, and those across the aisle committed an anti-national act.”
Gandhi also alleged that the RSS was working systematically to take control of all institutions in India, which triggered protests from Treasury benches.
He described India as a fabric woven from innumerable equal threads, a vision he said reflected Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of the nation.
He argued that the RSS was attempting to tear this fabric by capturing institutions of governance.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government had set aside valuable time for a meaningful discussion on electoral reforms, but Gandhi was wasting it. Speaker Om Birla urged all members to maintain decorum.
Gandhi insisted that the subject under discussion was “votes”, “vote theft”, and the role of the ECI.
He claimed that universities, the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, and other institutions had been captured, with bureaucrats loyal to RSS ideology placed in positions of influence.
He linked this institutional capture to the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, arguing that the RSS sought to dismantle the inclusive and equal India envisioned by the Father of the Nation.
“Everybody knows how Vice-Chancellors are appointed in Indian universities today,” he said.
On the other hand, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, hit back at the NDA government on Tuesday over the ongoing Vande Mataram debate in Parliament, calling it a tactic to divert attention from the country’s pressing economic challenges, foreign policy concerns, and internal security issues.
