Votes being added, deleted to make BJP win, says Congress citing Maharashtra, Delhi SIR
The Congress party has accused the BJP of manipulating electoral rolls in Maharashtra by deleting millions of names to influence election outcomes. Party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have labeled the process as 'vote theft' and questioned the integrity of the Election Commission.
Why it matters
Allegations of voter roll manipulation strike at the core of democratic legitimacy and electoral fairness in India.
Flagging the exclusion of 2.06 crore names in Maharashtra’s electoral rolls after the special intensive revision (SIR) , the Congress on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) said votes were being added and deleted to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins elections.
The deletions in Maharashtra, where draft rolls were published on Monday (August 31), are the largest in absolute numbers for any State in the ongoing Phase 3 of the SIR.
Following the 2024 Maharashtra elections, the Congress had formally submitted representations to the Election Commission alleging large-scale voter roll manipulation, including unusual voter spikes in several constituencies. It had alleged that forged documentation, such as fake Aadhaar cards with mismatched names and photos, were used to add fictitious voters without physical verification of addresses.
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