Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that roughly every sixth MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha had won elections through “vote theft” and claimed the party would not secure even 140 seats if elections were conducted fairly.

In a social media post, Gandhi alleged that votes were sometimes used to “steal” individual seats and at other times “entire governments”.

Referring to the BJP’s 240 MPs in the Lok Sabha, he said roughly every sixth MP had secured victory through such electoral malpractice and asked whether they should be described as “infiltrators”.

The use of terms such as “infiltrators” by the BJP has been part of its political messaging for several years, particularly in states with concerns over alleged undocumented migration. Leaders of the Hindutva party have used the term in reference to alleged undocumented migrants from Bangladesh, often linking it to matters of citizenship and land rights.

Gandhi further alleged that institutions responsible for maintaining voter lists and conducting elections were themselves being “remote controlled” and said the ruling party’s “real fear” was the truth.

Specifically he referred to Haryana, alleging that the entire state government there was made up of “infiltrators”.

Gandhi’s remarks came a day after he described the BJP’s victories in West Bengal and Assam as clear cases where the party “stole” elections.

He also urged party colleagues and others not to treat the defeat of the Trinamool Congress as a routine political competition, and to avoid “gloating” over the results.

His comments echoed allegations made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who claimed the BJP had “looted more than 100 seats” in the state.

On Monday, the BJP won 207 seats of the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 240 seats, while overall the National Democratic Alliance bagged 292 seats.

The Opposition bloc, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, formed in July 2023 to jointly challenge the BJP, won 234 seats.

Following the general election, the INDIA bloc faced setbacks in several Assembly elections, including in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi and Bihar.

Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have repeatedly alleged electoral irregularities in multiple states. Gandhi claimed there was large-scale rigging in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections, including the addition of around 25 lakh alleged fake voters. He has also raised concerns about voter lists in constituencies in Karnataka and alleged “industrial-scale rigging” in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The Election Commission has rejected these claims.

Akhilesh asks SC to intervene in Bengal polls

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday demanded that the Supreme Court take cognisance of the poll process in West Bengal and make video recordings of vote counting available to the public, PTI reported.

Questioning the fairness of the West Bengal Assembly elections, he referred to alleged irregularities in some elections and bye-polls in Uttar Pradesh in recent years and claimed there had been discrepancies during the counting process.

Yadav alleged that developments seen in West Bengal could be replicated on a larger scale in Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due next year.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged: “Multi-layered election mafia will work together, do more research and operate in Uttar Pradesh [in 2027 polls],” he alleged.

Yadav is expected to visit West Bengal and hold a meeting with Banerjee.