Squaring off against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for levelling allegations of vote theft against the Election Commission of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday cited the apology by CSDS’s Sanjay Kumar for error in data presented in his X post, what the BJP said was used by the Lok Sabha LoP to claim voting fraud in Maharashtra elections.
Political analyst and psephologist Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday apologised for his post on Maharashtra elections, which reported a considerable fall in voter numbers in two assembly seats compared to the recent Lok Sabha elections.
He said an error occurred while comparing 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly election data, attributing it to a misread row by the data team.
‘Kehna kya chahte ho’, BJP asks Rahul Gandhi
In a press conference on Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of creating chaos and evading accountability.
BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia said it was their “responsibility” to bring the truth in front of the people.
“Jab aarop ka pramaan manga jaaye toh bhag jaana, halaknama manga jaaye toh shapat patra pe nai dunga … har jagha arajyakta failta hun tabhi toh Rahul kehlata hu… ye BJP ki zimmedari banti hai ki samvidhan ka samman karte hue jo aarop opposition laga rahe hain ki vote chori ho rahi hai, EVM kharab hai, VVPAT se milan nai hota hai… ek sawal uthta hai, Rahul Gandhi ji ye PC aapke liye hai, agar dum khum ho toh uttar zaroor dijiye,” Gaurav Bhatia said.
“When asked for proof of his allegations, he runs away. When asked for an affidavit, he refuses. Wherever I spread disorder, that’s when I’m called Rahul—this seems to be his approach,” the spokesperson said. Emphasizing the BJP’s responsibility to uphold the Constitution, he dismissed Opposition claims of vote rigging, faulty EVMs, and VVPAT mismatches as baseless.
“Rahul Gandhi, this press conference is directed at you – if you have the courage, respond,” Bhatia added.
Referring to Gandhi’s statements about alleged voter manipulation in Maharashtra, Gaurav Bhatia pointed out inconsistencies: “On February 3, 2025, he claimed in Lok Sabha that 70 lakh new voters were added in just five months; on February 7, in a press conference, the number was 29 lakh; and by July 9 in poll-bound Bihar’s Patna, he said the voter count had increased by 1 crore during major elections.”
Kehna kya chahte ho (What exactly is he trying to say)” Gaurav Bhatia asked, highlighting that even when the Election Commission invited Rahul Gandhi for a dialogue, he refused to engage and decided to level allegations on the road.
BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia cited Supreme Court’s Tuesday move to dismiss petition challenging 2024 Maharashtra elections over alleged “bogus voting”.
He also cited the same petition that was taken up and dismissed by the Bombay high court in June 2025. He said the courts said the petitions were moved in a casual manner without any “tangible material” to prove the claims.
Gaurav Bhatia said Rahul Gandhi wasn’t running a “mohobbat ki dukaan (shop of love)” but a “jhooth ki dukaan (shop of lies)” .
BJP picks on CSDS chief’s U-turn
Bhatia then cited prominent psephologist and Lokniti-CSDS co-director Sanjay Kumar’s U-turn, which has sparked a political controversy after he deleted a post on X in which he highlighted a dramatic surge in voter numbers in two Maharashtra assembly constituencies—Nashik West and Hingna—between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The data he shared was seen as lending weight to the Congress party’s allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft) in Maharashtra, a charge prominently voiced by party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Kumar posted the figures on August 17, reporting a 47.38 per cent increase in voters in Nashik West and a 43.08 per cent rise in Hingna. However, the post was later deleted, a move that only intensified the political row.
“I sincerely apologise for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections. Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 Lok Sabha and 2024 Assembly. The data in row was misread by our Data team. The tweet has since been removed. I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation,” Sanjay Kumar said on X on Tuesday, what BJP’s Guarav Bhatia said was a lie “being served for over 40 hours”.
It all stems from an August 7 press conference of Rahul Gandhi in which he cited data from the Mahaevpura Assembly segment in Karnataka to accuse the Election Commission of tampering with electoral rolls at the behest of the BJP. He referred to it as “vote chori”, or theft of votes, and described it as part of a broader pattern of “fraud” being committed across the country.
In the August 7 press conference, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that more than 1 crore new voters were added to Maharashtra’s electoral rolls in the five months between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections – a figure he noted far exceeded additions typical for a five-year period.
Gaurav Bhatia also pointed to a now-deleted X post of Congress leader Pawan Khera that carried data to back voter fraud allegations against EC. Gaurav Bhatia asked “who will take responsibility for the damage to democracy”.
About the Author
