The Gujarat Congress has levelled explosive allegations against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls has been uncovered in the state. According to state Congress president Amit Chavda, the party’s independent scrutiny of voter lists revealed thousands of fake, duplicate, or suspicious entries, which he described as part of a systematic conspiracy to distort the democratic process.
Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Chavda accused the BJP of carrying out what he termed as “vote chori” (vote theft) in multiple constituencies. He asserted that the irregularities were particularly glaring in the Navsari Lok Sabha constituency, a politically sensitive seat currently represented by Gujarat BJP president and Union minister C.R. Patil.
Chavda explained that the Congress conducted a detailed examination of voter data in the Choriyasi Assembly segment within Navsari. Out of a total of 6,09,592 registered voters in that area, the Congress said it verified around 40 percent of the entries. Shockingly, nearly 30,000 names were flagged as either duplicate, fake, or highly suspicious.
“If such a massive scale of irregularities can be detected in just one constituency, imagine what the scale of fraud could be across Gujarat,” Chavda said. “This raises fundamental questions about the credibility of past elections, including C.R. Patil’s repeated record-breaking victories.”
Providing further details, Chavda alleged that the same voter’s name appeared multiple times on the rolls, sometimes with minor spelling alterations to disguise duplication. In other cases, individuals were found to possess more than one voter ID card. There were also instances where the same voter was listed in multiple languages, making it harder to track manipulation. Address changes were allegedly misused to inflate the lists further.
“This is not an accidental error or administrative lapse; this is a deliberate conspiracy to destroy democracy in Gujarat,” Chavda said, demanding that the entire voter list in the state undergo a thorough verification process by independent authorities.
The Congress has vowed to continue what it calls an “expose campaign” against the BJP, insisting that these revelations are only the beginning. While the BJP has not yet issued a formal response to the claims, the allegations come at a politically sensitive time, coinciding with the ongoing Voter Adhikar Yatra being spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi in Bihar.
Rahul Gandhi, currently on the road with the INDIA bloc allies, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), launched the yatra on August 17 from Sasaram in Bihar’s Rohtas district. The campaign is positioned as a protest against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, which the Congress claims is being used to manipulate voter data. The yatra has already passed through districts such as Gaya, Nawada, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, Munger, Katihar, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Purnea, and Champaran, and will culminate in Patna on September 1.
At a rally in Motihari, Rahul Gandhi escalated his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, “I am accusing the Prime Minister of vote theft every single day. Why is he silent? Because he has been caught red-handed. The overwhelming response to the Voter Adhikar Yatra has left him rattled.”
Both the BJP and the Election Commission have strongly denied these allegations. The Chief Election Commissioner went a step further, challenging Gandhi to either retract his accusations and apologise or to substantiate them by submitting a signed affidavit, as required under electoral laws.
