The Indian National Congress – Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Monday alleged large-scale voter deletions and fake entries in the islands’ electoral rolls, warning that such irregularities could undermine the credibility of the voting system.
At a press conference held at TSG Emerald View Hotel, Congress President Ranglal and Campaigning Committee Chairman T.S.G. Bhasker were joined by Susai Raj, National Coordinator of the Kisan Congress, who is currently visiting the islands. Raj described voter fraud as a “big national-level problem” seen in several states and claimed that “the democracy of the present government has become corrupted.”
Bhasker alleged that approximately 4,000 votes in the islands were affected by irregularities. “Similar voting foul play happened in the last election but did not garner much attention,” he said, accusing the Election Commission of failing to address voter “theft.” Such lapses, he warned, risk undermining public trust in the electoral process.
The Congress leaders compared the situation in the islands to Mahadevapura in Karnataka, where the party has alleged the presence of more than one lakh fake voters. Bhasker outlined examples such as duplicate and invalid voter entries, phantom residents listed at commercial addresses, and overcrowded voter rolls showing dozens of voters registered at the same property.
They acknowledged, however, that while the bulk of the allegations relate to irregularities in mainland India, no concrete evidence of such wrongdoing was presented for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The committee said they were raising the matter now to ensure that similar malpractices do not occur in the islands in the future.
The Andaman claims come amid a broader political dispute triggered by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of voter fraud in Mahadevapura. Gandhi alleged large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls, including voters registered in multiple states who may have voted more than once. The Election Commission has strongly refuted these claims, calling on Gandhi to provide documented evidence or issue an apology.
Preliminary inquiries by the EC in Karnataka have denied some of the specific instances cited by Congress and noted that certain materials displayed at press conferences were not official polling records. While localised investigations have uncovered irregularities, such as small properties with dozens of registered voters, no official report has confirmed widespread, systematic “vote theft” as alleged.
The EC has also pointed to privacy laws and procedural rules that restrict the sharing of voter lists in formats that would allow for bulk data analysis. Election officials maintain that the rolls undergo regular verification and that isolated errors do not constitute evidence of organised fraud.
The allegations have reignited calls from opposition parties and election reform advocates for stronger safeguards in voter roll management, including better address verification, data cross-checking across states, and mechanisms to flag duplicate entries.
For now, the claims in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands remain unproven, but Congress leaders insist the matter cannot be ignored. Whether the Election Commission responds with a targeted review in the islands could determine how seriously the issue is treated, and whether confidence in the archipelago’s electoral process can be reinforced before the next polls.
