Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi says, “Of the 240 BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha, about one in six MPs have secured a seat through ‘vote chori’. File photo: X/@INCIndia via ANI
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) claimed that a significant number of BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha won their seats through “vote chori”, saying the ruling party would look to cross even 140 seats if the elections were held today in a fair manner.
In a post on X in Hindi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that “one in six” BJP MPs out of the 240-member Lok Sabha secured victory through election rigging.
“It is not difficult to identify them – should we, in BJP parlance, call them ‘ghuspethiya’ (infiltrator)? What about Haryana? There, the entire government itself is ‘ghuspethiya’. The very institutions they hold in their pockets – those they manipulate to distort the electoral rolls and the electoral process – are themselves controlled by a ‘remote’ panhimote.
“Their real fear is the truth. If fair elections were held, they could not even win 140 seats today,” he added.
The remarks follow his earlier criticism of the BJP’s recent Assembly election victories in West Bengal and Assam, which he described as “mandate theft” and part of a wider attempt to undermine democratic institutions.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera stepped up the attack, accusing the BJP of “systematic electoral engineering” through widespread voter erasure and institutional capture.
At a press conference, Mr Khera alleged that electoral rolls had been “deliberately manipulated” and democratic institutions “compromised” to produce favorable results, particularly in West Bengal and Assam, which he termed “manufactured verdicts”. He blamed a wider pattern of electoral manipulation and “organized political targeting” of the opposition, warning that such practices posed a serious challenge to India’s constitutional framework.
“Abki baar loktantra ka antim sanskar (last rites of democracy this time),” Mr Khera said, alleging that democratic processes had been emptied. He called for judicial intervention and a re-vote, citing places where the Special Intensive Review (SIR) strikeouts were higher than the margin of victory.
Mr. Khera also dismissed what he claimed was an attempt by the BJP to give a common color to the election results. Without naming Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijija, who said the Congress should not become a Muslim League because only Muslim candidates win on its ticket, Mr. Khera said that of the 664 Congress MLAs across the country, about 78% are Hindu and about 12% are Muslim, roughly matching the population shares.
“BJP says it doesn’t need Muslim votes. BJP rejected Muslim voters and Muslim voters in turn rejected BJP. Muslims also rejected so-called ‘Muslim parties’ – like BJP itself. Instead they voted for a secular party of national importance. Congress,” Mr. Khera said.
Published – May 6, 2026 1:41 PM IST
