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ECI Busts Congress MP P Chidambaram And Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations Of Electoral Roll Manipulation

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eci rahul gandhi chidambaram

On 3 August 2025, the Election Commission of India (ECI) firmly rebutted allegations made by Congress MP P. Chidambaram, who claimed that voters were being shifted and migrant workers were being added to Tamil Nadu’s electoral rolls in a questionable manner. The ECI labeled these accusations as “misleading and without foundation.”

ECI Busts P Chidambaram’s Claim

In a strongly worded response, the Commission criticized Chidambaram for spreading misinformation regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which is a nationwide exercise. The statement read, “There is no need for political leaders to spread false information with respect to the SIR exercise being conducted by ECI at national level. It has come to the notice of the ECI that such information is being deliberately peddled in the media with a view to obstruct the exercise.” The EC went on to say that such statements appear to be intentionally circulated in the media to disrupt and discredit the process.

Addressing the issue of voters who have moved permanently from Bihar to other states, the EC clarified that accurate data would only be available once the SIR is completed. It emphasized that, under the Indian Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1950, individuals are eligible to register as voters in the constituency where they ordinarily reside. The EC also rejected claims of 6.5 lakh voters being added in Tamil Nadu, stating that SIR has not yet begun in the state, and linking it to the Bihar exercise is baseless.

It added, “As far as voters who have permanently shifted from Bihar to other states and are ordinarily resident in those states, the exact figures can be known only after the SIR has been conducted. The Constitution of India read with RP Act 1950 envisages Enrollment of voters with respect to the constituency in which they are ordinarily resident. It is for the voters to come forward and get enrolled in the constituency where they are eligible. But, it is noticed that some false figures are being floated about enrollment of 6.5 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu. SIR has not yet been rolled out in T.N. It is therefore absurd to connect the SIR exercise in Bihar with TN. Such peddling of false statements with respect to SIR should be avoided.”

EC Clarifies Legal Framework on Voter Registration

The Commission issued five key points to counter the Congress leader’s claims:

Earlier in the day, Chidambaram took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the ECI for what he described as a suspicious increase in Tamil Nadu’s electoral roll by 6.5 lakh migrant workers, while simultaneously removing about 65 lakh names from Bihar’s voter list, labeling them as “permanently migrated.” He called this trend both “alarming and illegal,” and accused the Commission of interfering with the democratic rights of Tamil Nadu voters. He questioned why migrant workers couldn’t simply return to their home state to vote during elections, as many do for festivals like Chhath Puja.

“The SIR exercise is getting curiouser and curiouser While 65 lakh voters are in danger of being disenfranchised in Bihar, reports of “adding” 6.5 lakh persons as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently illegal Calling them “permanently migrated” is an insult to the migrant workers and a gross interference in the right of the electorate of Tamil Nadu to elect a government of its choice Why should the migrant worker not return to Bihar (or his/her home state) to vote in the State Assembly election, as they usually do? Does not the migrant worker return to Bihar at the time of the Chhath puja festival? A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu? If the migrant worker’s family has a permanent home in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant worker be considered as “permanently migrated” to Tamil Nadu? The ECI is abusing its powers and trying to change the electoral character and patterns of States This abuse of powers must be fought politically and legally @CMOTamilnadu” he asked.

Chidambaram alleged that this move was aimed at altering the electoral demographics of Tamil Nadu and accused the EC of misusing its authority, calling for political and legal resistance.

ECI Busts Rahul Gandhi’s Claim

Similar to Congress MP P. Chidambaram, the official Congress social media handle also amplified Rahul Gandhi’s recent claims, asserting that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were manipulated. Referring to alleged discrepancies, the Congress post peddled, “How is the Lok Sabha election stolen? Out of 6.5 lakh voters, we found 1.5 lakh to be fake. It’s all documented; we obtained physical papers from the Election Commission. The election system in India is dead. Remember, the Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If 15 seats were rigged and we suspect the number to be much closer to 70 to 100. If 15 seats hadn’t been rigged, he wouldn’t be the Prime Minister of India. And we’ll prove to you that the Lok Sabha can be and was rigged. The institution that holds, protects, and defends this has been taken over. I now have 100 percent proof.”

In response to these statements, the Election Commission of India issued a firm rebuttal, accusing Rahul Gandhi of spreading unverified and misleading narratives. The Commission stated, “Shri Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly made unsubstantiated and misleading allegations, including baseless claims such as “vote chori,” and has threatened lakhs and lakhs of hardworking election officials across the country. It appears that these unfounded allegations are intended to discredit their impartial and transparent hard work, attempt to exert undue pressure on the election machinery, and even threaten them without even filing an appeal against electoral roll or even an EP against the conduct of elections as per law.”

The EC further revealed that Rahul Gandhi was invited to discuss these concerns in a formal setting on 12 June 2025, but he did not respond to the invitation. It added, “when the Election Commission extended an invitation to Shri Rahul Gandhi for an interaction on 12 June 2025, there has been no response from him so far.”

EC Clarifies Election Procedures Were Followed

To address the controversy, the Election Commission clarified that during the preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, both draft and final voter rolls were shared with all political parties, including the Indian National Congress. These lists were open to challenge under Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, yet very few objections were raised by the Congress across all 36 states and union territories.

Additionally, following the elections, only eight election petitions were filed by INC candidates under Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, suggesting limited formal contestation of the results.

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