Did BJP score another self-goal with allegations against Pawan Khera?

The BJP's attempts to counter Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori (theft)' campaign by accusing Congress media and publicity department chairman Pawan Khera of electoral fraud seem to have backfired.

On Tuesday, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya alleged that Khera, also the Congress national spokesperson, holds two active voter ID cards (EPICs), labelling it a clear case of fraud and questioning the Opposition's credibility on voter list integrity. This came just a day after Gandhi concluded his 1,300-km Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, vowing to unleash a "hydrogen bomb" of revelations about alleged BJP-orchestrated deletions in voter rolls that could embarrass Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, the accusation quickly appeared to unravel, exposing vulnerabilities in the Election Commission of India (ECI) rather than damage the Congress. Khera responded swiftly, explaining that he had applied to cancel his old voter ID from New Delhi segment in 2016 after relocating to Jangpura, but the ECI failed to process the request for years.

"They wanted to target us, but ended up targeting the EC," Khera quipped, turning the spotlight on the commission's inefficiencies and outdated electoral rolls. Reacting to Malviya's post, he said, "I came to know from him that I have a second EPIC card. I had applied to remove it in 2016-17, but it seems that did not happen and the EC is to be blamed for this.

"This is the issue we have been raising, this is what Rahul Gandhi is saying. Now I want to know if my vote was misused in Delhi and went to the BJP. I want CCTV footage," the Congress leader told PTI Videos.

As per media reports, Congress sources confirmed that Khera followed due process, planning to release supporting documents, and emphasised that such dual entries are common across India owing to ECI lapses.

This not only neutralised the BJP's attack but amplified the Congress narrative of systemic flaws in voter list management, including selective data access granted to the ruling party while denying it to the Opposition.

Malviya wasn't the only player on the field. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari, known for his bizarrely aggressive journalism during the 2020 Sushant Singh Rajput case, escalated the rhetoric by posing what he clearly thought were five pointed questions to Gandhi about Khera's "dual EPIC numbers".

Yet, this only fuelled Opposition claims that the ECI has conceded failures in maintaining electoral integrity, particularly ahead of Assembly elections in Bihar, where voter roll discrepancies have become a flashpoint thanks to the ham-handed special intensive revision (SIR) of the rolls.

In Bihar alone, reports indicate that over 3 lakh electors have received "doubtful citizen" notices from the ECI, raising fears of targeted deletions affecting marginalised and minority communities, those who traditionally do not vote for the BJP.

The Congress has leveraged the latest BJP accusations to argue that if even a high-profile figure like Khera faces such issues, ordinary voters are at greater risk of disenfranchisement.

The episode underscores a recent pattern of boomeranging, accusations of voter fraud by the BJP, highlighting institutional shortcomings rather than scoring partisan points.

On 13 August, BJP leader and former Union minister Anurag Thakur alleged significant voter list irregularities in Opposition strongholds, claiming 2.69 lakh "doubtful voters" in Rae Bareli (won by Gandhi), including 19,512 duplicates, 71,977 fake-address entries, and 92,747 mass additions.

Similar claims extended to Wayanad, Diamond Harbour, and Kannauj, with Thakur accusing opposition leaders like Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Abhishek Banerjee, and Akhilesh Yadav of benefiting from "vote chori", a term first used by Gandhi at a 7 August solo press conference in which he methodically presented his claims of election fraud in Mahadevapura Assembly segment of Karnataka's Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency.

Ironically, Congress retorted that Thakur's revelations "proved" the existence of fake voter lists, bolstering their own charges against the ECI. Notably, while the ECI demanded an affidavit from Gandhi to substantiate his allegations of systemic vote theft by the commission, Thakur was spared any such notice, prompting accusations of bias and double standards. Opposition leaders questioned why Gandhi faced scrutiny for critiquing the ECI, but Thakur's claims of fraud in Opposition seats went unchallenged.

Gandhi's Voter Adhikar Yatra, which traversed Bihar to rally against alleged electoral manipulations, has gained traction amid these revelations. On Monday, the last day of the yatra, he warned that the impending "hydrogen bomb" disclosure would expose how the BJP allegedly colludes with the ECI to purge Opposition-leaning voters.

The row has intensified as Bihar gears up for the polls, with Opposition parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) echoing concerns over irregularities, including phantom voters and undeleted entries for deceased individuals.

Adding to the irony, Malviya, presumably the architect of this latest salvo, has a history of levelling accusations that were later debunked or contested. For instance, in August, he accused former Congress president Sonia Gandhi of voter fraud, claiming her name appeared on the 1980 electoral rolls before she attained Indian citizenship.

However, the document he shared mentioned 'National Capital Territory of Delhi' (NCT), a term formalised only in 1991 — over a decade later — leading to widespread claims that it was forged or photoshopped. The Congress dismissed it as "good photoshop", with Trinamool Congress accusing Malviya of forgery.

In January, during the Delhi Assembly election, Malviya and other BJP leaders accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh's wife of appearing on dual voter lists, prompting legal notices from Singh who rejected the accusation as "lies" and electoral fraud claims without evidence.

These incidents were swiftly countered, with poll bodies and fact-checks exposing them as exaggerated or false, much like Malviya's May claims of fraud in West Bengal that faced scrutiny but lacked conclusive proof. Critics argue that such tactics reflect the BJP's strategy to deflect from Opposition critiques, but often erode public trust in the electoral process and make the party itself increasingly less credible.

The Khera controversy has broader implications for India's democracy. As Gandhi's campaign gains momentum, it calls for urgent ECI reforms, including transparent voter list audits and equal data access for all parties. With Bihar's elections looming, this spat could sway voter sentiment, especially in a state plagued by historical allegations of booth-capturing and list-tampering.

The ECI's silence on these dual entries only bolsters demands for accountability. Ultimately, what began as a BJP counterpunch has morphed into a self-inflicted wound, reinforcing the very 'vote chori' narrative it sought to dismantle and exposing cracks in the system that could influence future polls.

With PTI inputs