On August 7, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged a large-scale manipulation of India’s voter lists under what he termed “Vote Chori” (vote theft).
Armed with survey data and polling analysis, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of colluding with the ruling BJP to manipulate electoral rolls. “Anti-incumbency hits every party in every democracy. But for some reason, the BJP is the only party that does not suffer from it,” he claimed.
Among the examples he presented was the case of Gurkirat Singh Dang, whom Gandhi accused of appearing in four different polling booths with duplicate voter IDs. “There are 11,965 such voters in this category. The same name, the same address, the same person appearing multiple times,” Gandhi alleged.
Soon after Gandhi’s remarks, Gurkirat Singh Dang issued a rebuttal, calling the allegations false and politically motivated.
“I challenge Rahul Gandhi to prove that I voted four times. Multiple IDs were mistakenly created due to technical rejections, but I had already applied for their cancellation as per EC rules,” Dang clarified in a video statement.
He further alleged that his family was facing harassment following Gandhi’s claims. “This is a breach of privacy. I will take legal action against those spreading defamatory content,” Dang said.
The BJP seized on Dang’s rebuttal to mount a counteroffensive against Gandhi. Amit Malviya, head of the BJP IT cell, said in a sharp post on X: “Gurkirat Singh Dang, whom Rahul Gandhi paraded as proof of so-called Vote Chori, has hit back, calling him a bad loser. This isn’t the first time, every claim Rahul Gandhi has made collapses under scrutiny. He is an industrial-scale LIAR.”
Gurkirat Singh Dang, whom Rahul Gandhi had singled out during his presentation on so-called Vote Chori, has hit back, calling him a bad loser and demanding that he produce proof to substantiate the allegation that he voted multiple times. This isn’t the first time—every claim… pic.twitter.com/iZr089iZCg
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 17, 2025
The party accused Congress of misleading the public and manufacturing controversies to cover up its electoral failures.
The row comes against the backdrop of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. Opposition parties of the INDIA bloc have alleged that the EC is selectively deleting names to benefit the BJP.
However, the Election Commission categorically denied any wrongdoing. It insisted that the revision process was conducted transparently and urged Gandhi to either file a sworn affidavit substantiating his claims or issue an apology.
The controversy has snowballed into a major flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. The Opposition has staged protests, accusing the ruling party of attempting to subvert democracy through voter list manipulation.
