Rahul Gandhi has often projected himself as a crusader against electoral malpractice, repeatedly alleging large-scale irregularities in India’s voting system. Yet, in a striking pattern, many of his sensational claims have not only collapsed under scrutiny but have also been exposed by the very individuals he cited as “evidence.” From falsely labelling ordinary voters as duplicates to showcasing fabricated documents and misleading references, Gandhi’s narrative has repeatedly backfired.
In constituency after constituency, those whom he accused of being “fake voters” have stepped forward, some with official Election Commission records, others with their voter ID cards, and a few with their own testimonies, to call out his misrepresentations. What emerges is not a story of accidental mistakes, but of deliberate attempts to manufacture outrage. Whether it was branding a 70-year-old woman as a double voter, portraying a 34-year-old mother as a “124-year-old voter,” or targeting respected citizens with false accusations, each case points to a political strategy built on distortion.
This report lists seven instances where Rahul Gandhi’s claims were dismantled by his own references, exposing how political theatrics were staged at the cost of voters’ dignity and trust in democratic institutions.
1. Mahadevapura ‘Fake Voter’ claim
At a press conference on August 7, Gandhi claimed that over one lakh fake voters were registered in the constituency, citing instances where multiple voters shared the same address and several entries had “house number 0.” He branded this a conspiracy by the BJP to manipulate elections.
However, fact-checks soon revealed that the same so-called anomalies exist in his own constituency, Rae Bareli, where Gandhi secured his latest Lok Sabha win. Reports highlighted that several voter entries there also carry “house number 0” and many voters are registered under the same address. For instance, one polling booth showed 27 voters under “House No. 8,” while two others listed 18 voters each under “House No. 80” and “House No. 4.” If Gandhi’s logic in Karnataka is applied, his own constituency should also be considered compromised.
The most sensational charge he made was that 80 duplicate voters were listed at a single address in Mahadevapura. Local Booth Level Officer (BLO) Muniratna clarified that this house, located in Muni Reddy Garden, has been a rental property for years. Migrant workers, security guards, house helps, food delivery boys, used their tenancy agreements to register for voter IDs. Most later moved to other cities, leaving their names on the rolls, a common occurrence across urban constituencies.
Instead of voter fraud, the case exposed Gandhi’s eagerness to brand migrant workers as “fake voters” and attack the Election Commission, while overlooking identical patterns in his own seat of Rae Bareli.
2. The ‘Double Vote’ claim falls flat as elderly woman speaks out
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale electoral fraud suffered another blow after 70-year-old Bengaluru resident Shakun Rani publicly refuted his claim that she had voted twice in last year’s Lok Sabha elections.
At his August 7 press conference, Gandhi had displayed documents he claimed were “Election Commission data,” pointing to tick marks on voter slips as proof that Rani’s ID was used to cast two votes. He even declared, “Es ID card par do baar vote laga hai, polling booth ke officer ki hai” (this ID card has been used to vote twice; the marks were made by the polling officer).
However, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) immediately raised doubts and launched a probe. The inquiry confirmed that Shakun Rani had voted only once. More importantly, the so-called document Gandhi showcased was not issued by any polling officer, making his “evidence” appear dubious.
Deeply disturbed by the allegations, Rani released a video statement with her husband, saying: “I have cast my vote once. They are showing it again and again on TV, and my name is also being repeatedly mentioned. We feel harassed by this. This is not right.”
The couple, already battling old age and health issues, complained of media intrusion and requested privacy. They even warned of legal action if the harassment continued.
3. False ‘Vote Theft’ claim in Bihar
During his Vote Adhikar Yatra in Nawada on August 19, Gandhi presented a man named Subodh Kumar, claiming his name had been arbitrarily removed from the voter list. Handing him the microphone before a cheering crowd, Gandhi declared, “His name has been deleted from the voter list, this is happening with lakhs of people. Vote theft is an attack on Mother India.”
The video quickly went viral, amplifying Gandhi’s narrative of voter suppression. Subodh Kumar himself alleged that his name had been erased from the draft electoral roll.
However, the ECI’s investigation revealed an entirely different picture. Subodh Kumar is not an ordinary voter but a Booth Level Agent (BLA) of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The Commission confirmed that his name was never part of the voter list at any stage, whether in the Special Summary Revision of October 2024, the supplementary list of January 2025, or the Special Intensive Revision draft published on August 1, 2025.
The poll body further clarified that Kumar’s name did not appear even in the list of deleted voters, which is published in compliance with Supreme Court guidelines. In fact, while other members of his family had been transferred from one polling station to another, Subodh Kumar’s name had never been recorded in the electoral roll at all.
4. The ‘Missing Voter’ claim collapses in Ranju Devi’s case
At Gandhi’s rally on August 18, Ranju Devi was brought on stage and heard alleging that her name and those of six members of her family had been deleted from the voter list. The claim was used by Gandhi to bolster his narrative that lakhs of voters in Bihar were being disenfranchised.
However, just days later, a video of Ranju Devi surfaced that completely overturned the story. In the video, she admitted that her statement at the rally was not her own grievance but something she had been prompted to say. According to her, a ward secretary had convinced her to attend the event and claim her name was missing, assuring her that Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav would “solve her problem.”
“We are women from the village. Whatever people tell us, we believe and repeat,” Ranju Devi confessed in the recording.
The truth became clear when Booth Level Officers (BLOs) showed Ranju Devi the latest voter list prepared on August 1, 2025, which included not only her name but also the names of the six family members she had claimed were deleted. Seeing the names in the official rolls, she admitted that she was satisfied and had no grievance.
5. The ‘124-year-old voter’ who turned out to be just 35
Several MPs, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, staged a demonstration wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the picture of Minta Devi and the slogan “124 Not Out.” The Opposition claimed that Minta Devi, a resident of Siwan’s Daraunda Assembly constituency, was a 124-year-old “first-time voter” listed in Bihar’s rolls.
The episode was used to attack the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with Rahul Gandhi telling reporters: “There are unlimited cases like that. Abhi picture baki hai.” Priyanka Gandhi added that there were “several such cases” where names and addresses in the rolls were fabricated.
However, investigation punctured the Opposition’s narrative. Reporters located Minta Devi, who turned out to be only 35 years old. The error, according to poll officials, arose from a clerical mistake in her voter application, not from any deliberate fraud.
Instead of exposing “vote theft,” the Minta Devi case has highlighted how careless allegations and theatrical protests can backfire, undermining the credibility of the Opposition’s campaign.
6. ‘Fake Voter’ claim against Aditya Shrivastava falls apart
On August 7, during a press conference, Gandhi alleged that Aditya Shrivastava was registered as a voter in three different states, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka and accused him of being part of a wider electoral fraud. “His name appears four times. Same photo and same address,” Gandhi declared, claiming that thousands of such cases exist.
The very next day, Shrivastava debunked the allegation in an interview with India TV. He explained that he originally hailed from Lucknow, where his first voter ID was issued. In 2016, after moving to Mumbai, he transferred his voter ID and cast his vote there during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Later, in 2021, he shifted to Bengaluru for work and again transferred his voter ID, voting legitimately from Karnataka in the 2024 polls.
Shrivastava clarified that he never voted in multiple states simultaneously. His EPIC number, the unique 10-digit identification on voter cards, remained consistent through all constituency transfers, proving his compliance with Election Commission rules. He even challenged Gandhi to produce call records or CCTV footage showing him casting votes in more than one state. Adding to the evidence, India TV reporters visited his old Mumbai residence, where the current tenant confirmed Shrivastava had vacated in 2021.
7. Gurkirat Singh Dang rejects Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chori’ allegation
At a press conference on August 7, Rahul Gandhi alleged that Gurkirat Singh Dang had appeared four times on the electoral rolls, voting at different polling booths in his constituency. “Here is a duplicate voter. There are 11,965 such cases. Gurkirat Singh Dang’s name appears four times, same address, same person,” he claimed while accusing the Election Commission of siding with the BJP.
Dang, however, refuted the charges. He clarified that due to technical rejections during updates, four voter IDs were mistakenly created, but he had formally applied for their cancellation. “I challenge Rahul Gandhi to prove that I voted four times. My family is being harassed over this lie. I will also take legal action against those defaming me,” he said.
The BJP hit back strongly, calling Gandhi a “habitual liar.” BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya wrote on X, “Every claim Rahul Gandhi makes collapses under scrutiny. He is an industrial-scale liar.”
Rahul Gandhi’s repeated attacks on the Election Commission reveal a consistent pattern of manufactured narratives rather than evidence-based criticism. Time and again, his statements have been exposed as half-truths or outright falsehoods, collapsing under the weight of official records and fact-checks. By relying on misleading references and unverifiable anecdotes, he has attempted to construct a storyline of institutional bias that simply does not stand scrutiny.
What becomes evident is not a fight for electoral integrity but a calculated attempt to run a fake propaganda campaign against one of the most vital democratic institutions. Such tactics not only undermine the credibility of the accuser but also risk weakening the trust of ordinary citizens in the electoral process.
In the end, Rahul Gandhi’s propaganda has backfired, exposing his own doublespeak rather than any alleged flaws in the Election Commission.
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