Rahul Gandhi Alleges Electoral Fraud In India; And The Latest In India-U.S. Trade Dispute

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Rahul Gandhi Accuses Election Commission Of “Vote Chori”, EC And Its State Units Hit Back Immediately

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday presented what he termed "criminal evidence" of vote manipulation in recent elections that saw his party suffer crushing defeats.

During a press conference, the Raebareli MP displayed a presentation and a stack of documents he claimed were extracted from electoral rolls provided by the Election Commission. 

Gandhi alleged that 1,00,250 votes were "stolen" through five different methods in the Mahadevpura assembly constituency within the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat and that similar ‘thefts’ had happened in other states too. 

BJP MP from Bangalore Central, PC Mohan, quickly rejected the allegations, stating his party won through legitimate support. "We won because Hindus voted decisively against dynasty, appeasement, and entitlement," he wrote on social media, adding that "minority-dominated constituencies are not Congress property." 

Notably, the Mahadevpura Assembly segment in Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency is said to be dominated by voters of the Hindu community while in many of the other Assembly segments in Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency, the minority vote is said to be dominant. 

It has been observed over the years that it is the Mahadevpura Assembly segment that delivers a lead to the BJP in Bangalore Central. With that context, Gandhi’s choice of Bangalore Central to make his point is interesting, to say the least, given that there are multiple Lok Sabha constituencies and many more Assembly constituencies in India where the minority vote is dominant and where the BJP struggles to even come second at times.

Rahul Gandhi has made similar claims about Maharashtra and Haryana following Congress defeats in those states' assembly elections too. Gandhi has also previously demanded that the Election Commission release voter rolls in machine-readable formats to enable automated verification.

Ironically, all of Rahul Gandhi’s pleas and allegations only emphasize the necessity of an intensive revision and clean-up of the electoral rolls in India, an exercise he and his party are opposing when it is happening in Bihar. 

Signals To Whom?

Curiously, Rahul Gandhi’s latest press conference on the ECI, what he calls an ‘atom bomb’, come right in the middle of a Donald Trump-initiated tariff dispute with India. India is levied with a total of 50 per cent tariffs. The other country to face such a high rate of tariff is Brazil. What is noteworthy here is that in early July, when Trump spoke of imposing 50 per cent tariffs on the Latin American country, he had linked them to what he called a ‘witch hunt’ of former Brazil President, Jair Bolsanaro. 

Election Commission Responds

Following Gandhi's allegations, chief electoral officers from Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Haryana wrote to the Congress leader demanding he provide details of irregularities under oath. They warned that providing "false evidence" is punishable under Section 227 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The officials noted that Congress had not filed any formal claims or appeals regarding voter lists in these states, reminding Gandhi that poll results can only be legally challenged through election petitions in high courts.

India-U.S. Tariff Dispute

Personally, I Will Have To Pay A Heavy Price For This — But I Am Ready For It: PM Modi On Protecting Farmers’ Interests

As trade tensions with the United States continue to escalate following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs on Indian goods, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday vowed to prioritize Indian farmers' interests above everything else. 

Speaking at a conference in New Delhi, PM Modi received enthusiastic applause as he declared: "For us, our farmers' interests are top priority . . .India will never compromise with the interests of its farmers, herders, and fishermen."

The context for this comment is the stalled trade deal negotiations with the U.S. As per multiple reports, the US trade team was demanding access to Indian agricultural markets, a non-negotiable for India. This was among the main points of contention between the two delegations. With a trade deal out of sight before a Trump-imposed deadline of 1 August, the U.S. President went ahead and announced the tariffs on Indian goods and then doubled the figure on Wednesday, 6 August. 

Doval Meets Putin In Moscow 

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met with President Vladimir Putin and top Russian officials in Moscow on Thursday. 

The high-profile diplomatic engagement saw Doval hold discussions at the Kremlin with Putin following extensive talks with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu. 

During his meeting with Shoigu, Doval emphasized the enduring nature of bilateral ties despite international pressures. "We highly value our strategic partnership,"Doval said. "I think you said the world is passing through a very tumultuous situation. There is some unpredictability, there are some uncertainties, and in an environment like this, our old strategic and privileged partnership has got a very special role."

Shoigu reciprocated the sentiment. He described the two nations as being connected by "strong, time-tested ties of friendship" and outlined Moscow's commitment to strengthening their strategic partnership based on "mutual respect, trust, equal consideration of each other's interests and the desire to promote a unifying agenda."

The Russian official went further: "We are committed to further active cooperation to form a new, more just and sustainable world order, ensure the rule of international law and jointly combat modern challenges and threats”. 

Putin Might Visit India This Year Itself

During their talks, Doval and Shoigu addressed Putin's planned trip to India for the yearly India-Russia Summit. The Indian National Security Adviser indicated that the timing for the visit has been "nearly confirmed" but declined to provide specific information about the schedule.

To be sure, this is not the first time that a government official from either country has signalled that President Putin could visit India in 2025. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had announced in April this year that Putin would travel to India during 2025, which would be his first trip to the country since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

Lavrov has stated at that time that arrangements were being made for Putin's visit, though he did not provide a specific timeframe for when it would occur.

Putin's last visit to India was in December 2021, just months before Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine.

Modi-Lula Phone Call

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and PM Modi held a telephone conversation Thursday. This came days after Lula had ruled out direct talks with Trump and had said he would reach out to the leaders of India and China instead. 

Out of all the countries that Trump has imposed tariffs on, India and Brazil face the highest rate–50 per cent. 

During their call, the leaders discussed plans for a Brazilian state visit to India early next year. 

In their respective social media posts on the phone call, Lula explicitly referenced tariff discussions while PM Modi's post read: ". . . We are committed to deepening our Strategic Partnership including in trade, energy, tech, defence, health and more".  

China Backs India's Sovereignty Amid US Tariff Dispute

China has voiced solidarity with India following US President Trump’s imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. On August 6, the Chinese Embassy in India took to social media platform X to say: "India's sovereignty is non-negotiable and its foreign policy choices cannot be manipulated by other countries, no matter how significant their own ties with India are."

The embassy spokesperson accompanied the statement with a symbolic illustration depicting an elephant representing India facing a baseball bat symbolizing US tariffs. In a follow-up post, the Chinese official criticized Western media coverage, arguing that narratives framing the tariff dispute as a question of "who will replace whom" between India and China lacked meaningful substance. 

You’re all caught up. Until next time.