RAHUL GANDHI CLAIMS PRESIDENT’S RESPONSE LEFT HIM STUNNED AS INDIA BLOC ESCALATES ‘VOTE THEFT’ CHALLENGE
October 10, 2026
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he was “shocked and stunned” after President Droupadi Murmu, according to his account, did not reject the Opposition’s allegations of electoral manipulation during a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Gandhi said the President had asked the delegation to provide evidence of the alleged “vote chori”, or vote theft.
The meeting took place as the INDIA bloc intensified its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the conduct of elections. The opposition delegation submitted a memorandum dated October 9, alleging a conspiracy involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the chief election commissioner to undermine Indian democracy.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gandhi said he had expected the President to reject the allegations and affirm that India’s electoral system remained free and fair. Instead, he claimed, she had asked the delegation to bring forward evidence of electoral wrongdoing. Gandhi interpreted her response as an acceptance of the concerns raised by the Opposition, although her reported request for proof does not itself establish agreement with the allegations.
The memorandum alleged that elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal had been compromised. It also raised allegations of manipulation of electronic voting machines and electoral rolls in several Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The Opposition claimed that it possessed substantial evidence to support its charges and said it was prepared to present the material to the President.
The delegation placed four principal demands before Murmu. These included the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the repeal of the 2023 law that, according to the Opposition, provides election commissioners with extensive legal immunity. The memorandum also sought an immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the restoration of the names of 13.30 crore voters whom the MPs alleged had been illegally removed.
The opposition parties further demanded a return to paper ballots for elections and the annulment of Assembly elections held over the preceding two years in which, they claimed, conclusive evidence of vote theft had been presented. They urged the President to intervene in addressing their concerns and protecting the constitutional right to vote.
Gandhi said the delegation was willing to return to Rashtrapati Bhavan with the evidence it had collected. He also announced that opposition representatives would approach the Supreme Court on Monday to meet the Chief Justice of India and submit a memorandum outlining their allegations.
The presidential meeting followed several days of protests by opposition MPs and supporters over the electoral-roll revision exercise and demands for Kumar’s resignation. The demonstrations have intensified the confrontation between the INDIA bloc, the government and the Election Commission over electoral transparency and institutional accountability.
The BJP and the Election Commission have previously rejected the Opposition’s vote-theft allegations. The claims presented to the President remain allegations by the opposition parties and have not been established as proven findings. Nevertheless, Gandhi’s announcement of a proposed approach to the Supreme Court signals that the INDIA bloc intends to pursue the dispute through both political mobilisation and constitutional channels.
