BERLIN: India’s democratic crisis came under sharp global scrutiny as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the Bharatya Janata Party-led regime of systematically rigging elections, crippling democratic institutions and weaponising state agencies to perpetuate its grip on power.
Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a lecture titled “Politics Is the Art of Listening” at the Hertie School in Berlin, said there was a fundamental problem with India’s electoral machinery. He alleged large-scale “vote theft” and manipulation of voter lists, asserting that the Congress party had effectively won the Haryana Assembly elections in 2024 and that the Maharashtra elections were “not fair.”
He said the Congress had presented irrefutable evidence to the Election Commission of India, including cases of duplicate and bogus voters, but received no response. Citing a glaring example, Gandhi said a Brazilian woman’s name appeared 22 times on the voter list in Haryana, exposing the scale of electoral fraud under the BJP regime. “We fundamentally believe that there is a serious problem with the electoral system in India,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi warned that India was witnessing a full-scale assault on its institutional framework. He accused the Modi-led government of capturing constitutional bodies meant to safeguard democracy, turning them into instruments of political control. He said agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been weaponised to intimidate opposition leaders and silence dissent.
He alleged a clear pattern of selective targeting, noting that investigative agencies have “zero cases” against BJP leaders, while the bulk of cases are directed at opposition figures. Gandhi also accused the regime of coercing businessmen, claiming that those who financially support opposition parties face harassment, while those backing the BJP receive protection.
“The BJP uses institutions to build political power and accumulate enormous financial resources, leaving the opposition systematically weakened,” he said. The Congress leader said the situation reflected a broader attack on India’s democratic foundations, where elections, institutions and investigative bodies were being subordinated to the ruling party’s interests. He announced that the Congress would build a “system of resistance” to counter what he described as the BJP’s capture of the Indian state.
