New Delhi : The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a press conference at 3 pm on August 17, 2025, at the National Media Centre in New Delhi. The briefing is expected to address recent political developments, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of vote theft.
The poll body began the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list in Bihar earlier this month, nearly four months ahead of the scheduled state assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi has intensified his criticism of the Election Commission over the past week, alleging large-scale voter manipulation during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that, he claims, benefitted the BJP.
The controversy gained traction after Gandhi alleged that over 1 lakh votes were fraudulently cast out of the 6.5 lakh total in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura assembly segment, which falls under the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP had won the Bangalore Central seat in the 2024 election by a margin of 32,707 votes.
During a recent party meeting, Gandhi suggested that voter fraud may have played a role in up to 70 constituencies where the Congress lost by margins of fewer than 50,000 votes. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will launch a 16-day ‘Voter Rights Yatra’ from Sasaram, Bihar, on August 17 to protest the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and alleged voter manipulation. The march will end with a rally in Patna on September 1.
The yatra, covering around 1,300 kilometres, is being held to highlight what the Congress calls “voter theft” in Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls. Senior RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and other INDIA bloc leaders will join the protest. Congress leader Pawan Khera said the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, has manipulated voter rolls. He claimed the SIR process was used to delete votes from marginalised communities, calling it a threat to democratic rights.
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