Party chief Prof MH Jawahirullah called the revelations ‘deeply disturbing’ warning that the foundational principle of equal voting rights was under threat
NEW DELHI/CHENNAI — Tamil Nadu’s influential political party, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), has come out strongly in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s explosive allegations of electoral fraud.
In a statement issued on Friday, its president and MLA Prof MH Jawahirullah, has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond transparently to the questions raised.
Jawahirullah called the revelations “deeply disturbing” and warned that the foundational principle of equal voting rights was under threat.
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Parliament, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ECI of jointly facilitating “large-scale electoral fraud.”
Presenting purported evidence, Gandhi cited the addition of over 1.25 lakh fake voters in the Madhapuran assembly seat of Bengaluru Central parliamentary constituency alone as an example of how the system had been rigged.
“The data and evidence revealed by Rahul Gandhi cannot be brushed aside,” Jawahirullah stated, echoing growing concerns in opposition ranks about the credibility of the electoral process. “He has highlighted only one constituency, but he has indicated that this is part of a nationwide pattern.”
Gandhi highlighted five types of voter list manipulations including:
• Fake voters created and inserted into rolls
• Multiple entries of the same individual across different polling stations
• Unverifiable or invalid addresses attached to voter IDs
• Misuse of Form 6, the form used to add new voters, and
• Overcrowded residential addresses, where hundreds of voters are listed under a single unit.
“These are not minor errors or clerical mistakes,” said Jawahirullah. “They represent a deliberate effort to distort the democratic process.”
Gandhi also questioned the mysterious surge of new voters in Maharashtra between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent state assembly polls just five months later. Similar concerns have emerged from Bihar, where opposition parties allege that during the Special Intensive Revision exercise legitimate voters were arbitrarily deleted, disenfranchising thousands.
“These are not isolated incidents. There is a visible pattern here that points to structural manipulation,” said Jawahirullah, calling the ECI’s silence “alarming.”
The MMK leader insisted that the ECI must urgently and publicly respond to the allegations and clarify how such irregularities were allowed to occur.
“The right to vote equally is the most basic pillar of Indian democracy,” Jawahirullah emphasised. “If this right is compromised — through fake voters, manipulated rolls, or selective deletions — it shakes the entire democratic structure.”
He further appealed to all democratic forces, civil society, and opposition parties to come together to press for electoral reforms and an overhaul of the Election Commission’s functioning. “The time has come to ask hard questions. We need a meaningful reform process to ensure that such fraud cannot recur.”
With assembly elections in several key states on the horizon, the integrity of the electoral process is likely to become a central political issue. Opposition parties appear to be mobilising around the demand for a transparent audit of the voter roll system and greater accountability from the poll commission.
