Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition in India’s Lok Sabha, has escalated his charges that the recent Lok Sabha and state elections were marred by “vote chori” (vote theft), implicating both the BJP and the Election Commission (EC). He cited alleged voter-roll irregularities—such as mysterious voter surges in Maharashtra and Karnataka—and claimed the EC destroyed CCTV footage and withheld critical digital data . The EC refuted these claims, demanding Gandhi either substantiate them via signed affidavits or apologize .