Hyderabad, November 14 — Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday declared that India is 'actually no longer a democracy', in the sharpest attack yet in his long-running campaign over electoral rolls, delivered at the concluding session of the second Bharat Summit at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC). 'It is important for the democratic movement on the planet that India remains a democracy, and what we have found and proven is that India is actually no longer a democracy,' Gandhi said, according to the PTI report of the address. The two-day summit is hosted by the Congress-led Telangana government.

Source: PTI via The Sen Times

At the centre of the charge was a number Gandhi has begun repeating on national platforms. He alleged that 140 million people — roughly 13 per cent of the electorate — who voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha election were declared 'either non-existent voters or non-voters' a few months later, an apparent reference to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls carried out in several states after the general election. 'How can the election be legitimate if the Election Commission declares 140 million voters to be illegal?' he asked. This is Gandhi's allegation: the Election Commission has not accepted that voters were wrongly struck off in this manner, and the poll body and the BJP have rejected allegations of deliberate electoral manipulation.

Source: Madhyamam (Hyderabad, Nov 14)

The Maharashtra claim and the 'decade of shock'

Citing Maharashtra, Gandhi alleged that about seven million new voters were 'magically' added to the rolls in the three months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and that every one of them voted for the BJP, reversing the outcome — again, his allegation, which the BJP and the Election Commission have previously rejected. He said the 2014 election had brought 'a completely new type of campaign' with unprecedented money, and that the Opposition had stayed in shock for a decade before it began examining state-by-state electoral data: 'I would be lying if I said the Opposition was not in shock. We were in shock, not for a year, not for two years, but for an entire decade.' He further alleged that democracy 'was destroyed in India in 2014' and claimed the BJP's assets had increased elevenfold, criticising what he called the growing link between politics and business.

Apology to the delegates who could not come

Gandhi also apologised to foreign delegates who could not attend the summit, alleging that the Union government did not allow them to attend. The summit has been shadowed by a visa row: reports said visas of more than 100 foreign invitees were denied or revoked, among them Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, while Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has alleged that 115 of the 315 cleared speakers were refused entry. The External Affairs Ministry has responded that visa matters are a sovereign function of any government. Awaaz Punjab reported the Helle Lyng visa cancellation and Tharoor's claim as separate stories earlier this week.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The political fight, Gandhi said, would be waged with 'truth, non-violence and love' rather than hatred — a theme he tied to Mahatma Gandhi's principles and his own Bharat Jodo Yatra — and he predicted the ruling party's defeat in direct terms: 'We are going to defeat Mr Modi and get rid of Mr Modi.' Describing Indian democracy as a global asset and a public good for more than 1.5 billion people, he urged progressive leaders from around the world to stand together against authoritarian forces.

Source: Hyderabad Mail

What the other side says

The BJP has rejected the Opposition's democracy charges throughout this campaign, maintaining that India's electoral institutions and constitutional framework remain intact, and it has criticised the Congress-led summit and its choice of international participants. Youth-wing (BJYM) workers protested near the HICC venue against Gandhi's visit, according to summit coverage. The Election Commission has faced repeated Opposition criticism over voter-roll revisions and has rejected allegations of deliberate manipulation.

The Bharat Summit brought together more than 1,000 delegates from around 70 countries, according to its organisers, and its closing session was expected to produce a formal declaration alongside the launch of the Our World Institute. Gandhi's Hyderabad speech lands in the middle of the SIR voter-roll fight that the Congress has made its central national campaign — and his 140-million figure, now delivered before an international audience, is certain to draw a formal response from the BJP and fresh scrutiny of what the roll revision actually removed, and why.