Rahul Gandhi, representing India, has declared that he will challenge the 'serious discrepancies' he believes exist within the electoral system.

NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi expressed on Wednesday that India's electoral system is plagued by "serious discrepancies," vowing to keep fighting for its integrity through public mobilization and possibly legal action. As a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has long been at the helm of the main opposition Congress party, Gandhi recently accused officials of tampering with voter rolls by inserting fake names ahead of the 2024 general election and other recent contests. Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, falling short of expectations in the national vote and needing allies to form a government, they managed to secure several state elections with relative ease. Both the BJP and the Election Commission have denied the allegations of rigging, which are uncommon in the world's most populous democracy, home to 1.42 billion people. "There are serious discrepancies in the election system, and we will diligently keep exposing them,” Gandhi told reporters, referencing research conducted by his party colleagues. He emphasized the importance of maintaining public trust in democratic institutions. "We do not want to discredit the election process of India, so we are doing it slowly and deliberately," he added, speaking from his official residence in central Delhi, adorned with portraits of his father and grandmother, both former prime ministers. Gandhi outlined the party's strategy as one focused on generating public pressure. "We mainly want to challenge the Election Commission through the people but could eventually go to court." When asked by Reuters if the opposition alliance could unseat Modi in the upcoming national election in 2029, he remarked, "If elections are rigged, no amount of cadre mobilization will work. The game we are playing is rigged." His remarks come just ahead of a tightly contested state election in Bihar. "The Bihar election is looking very close, but we are rising and they are declining," he noted.Bihar, one of India's most politically important states, goes to polls by November. It is ruled by an alliance of Modi's party but according to a recent survey by the VoteVibe agency, the opposition has an edge largely because of a lack of jobs.

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