New Delhi, August 2: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday claimed that the 2024 Lok Sabha election was “rigged” and declared that he will soon release “an atom bomb” of evidence that will “send shockwaves” through the country’s electoral system.
Addressing a legal conclave themed on constitutional challenges, Gandhi alleged that the Indian election system is “already dead” and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in office only because of a narrow and manipulated majority.
“You will see the shockwave that is going to go through the electoral system when we release this data. It is literally like an atom bomb,” he said.
Gandhi revealed that the Congress has verified anomalies in the voter list from one Karnataka Assembly constituency where, he claimed, 1.5 lakh fake voters were found among 6.5 lakh names.
He said the data would be made public on August 5 at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park and that it forms the first part of evidence exposing systematic voter list manipulation.
“In the coming few days, we are going to prove to you without any doubt how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged, and it was rigged,” he said.
Gandhi, who is now Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, claimed that if even 10–15 seats were manipulated, the Prime Minister’s position would be illegitimate — but said Congress suspects the number is as high as 70 to 100 seats.
“Please remember one thing: the Prime Minister of India enjoys a very slim majority. Had there been a difference of a few seats, he would not have been there,” he said.
Sharpening his criticism of the Election Commission, Gandhi said it no longer functions as a free institution.
“The institution that protects the Constitution has been obliterated. It has been taken over,” he alleged.
He explained that the data was collected manually over six months because the Election Commission refused to provide electronic copies of booth-wise voter lists.
“One will be shocked to know that the paper voter lists are scan-protected. Why? What are they hiding?” Gandhi asked.
He added that the Congress had long suspected irregularities, especially after unusual results in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — where the party failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat — and in Maharashtra, where opposition parties collapsed in the Assembly polls despite strong performances in Lok Sabha just months earlier.
Gandhi also revived his criticism of the Rafale deal, claiming the Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Advisor interfered and “damaged” the contract, but alleged the explosive documents were buried.
He acknowledged the personal cost of taking on the ruling regime.
“I’m fighting 30 cases. My sister told me I’m playing with fire. I said yes, and I’ll continue to. I’m not scared,” he said.
He appealed to the legal fraternity to dedicate time to defend the Constitution, saying lawyers had been the backbone of India’s freedom and democracy.
“These people are not attacking just our politics. They are attacking our religion, our way of life, our Hinduism,” Gandhi said.
He concluded with a call to resist fear and “cowardice,” saying, “The most cowardly thing you can ever do is be scared of a coward.”
