Congress Alleges Irregularities in 2019 Voters’ List, Launches Audit of Key Constituencies

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The Congress party has announced a comprehensive audit of the voter rolls from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, focusing on alleged irregularities that it claims could have impacted the outcomes in dozens of closely contested constituencies.

Party general secretary K.C. Venugopal stated that the review will cover 48 parliamentary seats where the opposition’s INDIA bloc candidates were defeated by margins of fewer than 50,000 votes. The initiative is part of the party’s broader campaign against what it describes as “vote chori,” or electoral theft.

The move follows earlier claims by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who accused the Election Commission and the BJP of manipulating voter rolls, especially in urban constituencies like Bangalore Central. He alleged that thousands of entries on the electoral roll were either fake or duplicated and that Form 6, used for new voter registration, was being misused to manufacture votes.

Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders have demanded a digital and verifiable voter list to ensure transparency and prevent manipulation. The party recently launched a public campaign encouraging citizens to register their support for the demand.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also backed the allegations, stating that his 2019 electoral defeat was the result of voter list manipulation. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to undermine the democratic process.

The issue of voter roll accuracy has also gained attention in Bihar, where the Election Commission conducted a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Congress has linked its current concerns to broader efforts to protect the integrity of India’s elections ahead of the 2024 general polls.