Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday, August 8, publicly endorsed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale electoral fraud against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI). The move signaled a notable moment of alignment with the party’s central leadership after months of political distance.

Tharoor described Gandhi’s charges as “serious questions which must be seriously addressed,” stressing that India’s democratic credibility could not be allowed to erode. Writing on X, he stated, “Our democracy is too precious to allow its credibility to be destroyed by incompetence, carelessness, or worse — deliberate tampering.” He further appealed to the ECI to respond openly and “clear the air” to restore public trust.

The show of support is significant, as Tharoor had recently drawn attention for his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his sharp criticism of the Emergency period — remarks that had put him at odds with sections of the Congress leadership, a fact the BJP often highlighted.

Rahul Gandhi’s recent press conference has set off a political storm. He accused the ECI of working in concert with the BJP to manipulate the 2024 Lok Sabha election results, describing the alleged operation as a “huge criminal fraud.” Gandhi pointed specifically to the Mahadevpura assembly segment in Karnataka, claiming the BJP recorded an “inflated lead of 1,14,046 votes,” which contributed to its narrow win in the Bengaluru Central seat by just over 32,000 votes, despite Congress leading in most other segments.

Gandhi demanded that the ECI release machine-readable voter data from the last 10–15 years, along with CCTV footage from polling stations. “If the EC does not give us machine-readable data for the past 10–15 years and the CCTV footage, they are partaking in the crime,” he asserted.