A political row has erupted in India over allegations of “vote theft”, with opposition parties accusing the country’s election body of irregularities, which they say favoured the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections.
Parliament was adjourned after opposition MPs demanded a debate on the integrity of India’s electoral process.
A day earlier, dozens of opposition leaders, including Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, were briefly detained by the police in the capital Delhi, as they tried to march to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) headquarters.
Gandhi first raised the issue at a 7 August press conference in Delhi, and has since managed to galvanise strong support from hundreds of opposition lawmakers.
The Election Commission and the BJP have aggressively rejected the allegations.
