Two recent investigative reports released by prominent non-profit organizations have raised serious concerns about the integrity of the 2024 Indian general elections. These reports allege that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 79 seats through voter turnout manipulation, calling into question the role of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
At an event in Mumbai on July 22, the citizens’ platform Vote for Democracy (Maharashtra) unveiled its comprehensive report titled “Report: Conduct of Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Analysis of ‘Vote Manipulation’ and ‘Misconduct during Voting and Counting.’” The report detailed numerous irregularities during the election process, including discrepancies between votes cast and those counted from electronic voting machines and significant increases in voter turnout figures.
The report suggests that approximately 5 crore votes were added to the final voter turnout, a move that purportedly enabled the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to retain power. According to the report, the BJP/NDA’s current tally of 293 seats would have been reduced to 217 without these additional votes. It pointed out significant turnout increases benefiting the BJP/NDA in states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Assam during Phase 2 of voting. However, this pattern was not observed in the remaining phases, including the identical states.
Kerala emerged as a notable case in Phase 2, where the BJP won one seat, finished second in another, and came third in the remaining 14 out of the state’s total of 20 seats. The overall average rise in the final voter turnout was reported at 4.72%, with particularly high increases of 12.54% in Andhra Pradesh and 12.48% in Odisha. The report claimed that NDA candidates won by narrow margins in 18 seats across 10 states.
The VFD criticized the ECI for its silence on these concerns, highlighting election malpractices, delays in announcing initial turnout data, and significant increases in final turnout figures. The report noted that during Phase 1, there was an 11-day delay in releasing final figures, which were presented only as percentages without an explanation for the substantial hike.
Meanwhile, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released its report on the 2024 general elections at a press conference on July 29 at the Press Club of India, New Delhi. The report, titled “Discrepancies between the votes cast and the votes counted in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election: Multiple Perspectives,” revealed serious discrepancies in the total number of EVM votes cast and the total actual number of EVM votes counted in 538 out of 543 constituencies, favoring the BJP.
The ADR report also recalled similar issues during the 2019 general elections, where discrepancies ranged from one vote to over 100,000 votes, with six seats showing a higher discrepancy than the winning margin. The total volume of discrepancies amounted to 739,104 votes.
In addition, the ADR report noted inordinate delays in releasing final voter turnout data, the absence of disaggregated constituency and polling station figures in absolute numbers, and concerns about whether election results were based on final reconciled data. The report called for the ECI to stop announcing election results based on provisional data before an actual and accurate reconciliation of votes, referencing a petition filed by ADR and Common Cause in the Supreme Court in 2019.
The Supreme Court of India’s hands-off approach in addressing these discrepancies has been criticized. On May 24, 2024, during the elections, the court refused to hear applications regarding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, adjourning the matter along with the main petition filed by ADR and Common Cause in 2019. This delay in adjudication has been seen as a missed opportunity to prevent the discrepancies observed in the recent elections.
Opposition parties and civil society members have leveled multiple charges against the ECI for partisanship during the 18th general elections. They criticized the ECI’s failure to hold regular press conferences, address code of conduct violations, and acknowledge reports of voter suppression and malfunctioning EVMs.
The main opposition Congress party has taken note of the VFD report and sought the ECI’s clarification. Senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit highlighted the 4.7% average difference in voter turnout figures, amounting to about 5 crore votes nationwide.
The question now posed by these findings is whether the 2024 mandate has been ‘stolen’ from the people. The ECI’s response to these allegations will be crucial in restoring public faith in the electoral process.