When the Leader of the Opposition accuses the Election Commission of “criminal fraud” with reams of purported evidence, and the poll panel responds not by investigating, but by demanding an affidavit – and yet, the story barely makes the front page – what does that say about the state of a democracy?
This is what unfolded after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that over 1,00,250 “fake votes” had been added in the Mahadevapura assembly segment in Bengaluru, and made similar claims of manipulation in Maharashtra, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. “The umpire is playing for the other team,” he said, accusing the EC of colluding with the BJP to “steal elections”. This is not the first time Gandhi has made such allegations, but the first time he presented “evidence” in such a format.
The most-read Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran, didn’t even carry it on page one. In English, only The Hindu ran it as the lead on its front page. No editorial board felt compelled to weigh in either in Hindi or English.
But even as Gandhi alleged electoral theft, the media’s spotlight was elsewhere: trained firmly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment that he was “ready to pay a personal price” for protecting farmers amid US tariff tensions.
The Times of India
The English newspaper with the highest circulation in the country, The Times of India, published the story on Gandhi’s voter fraud allegation as a three-column third lead on its front page. Its headline – Rahul claims ‘proof of poll fraud’; EC says ‘back up charges on oath’. A small box in the story with the headline ‘Jail terms if evidence found false’ ran a story on the contents of the letter of the chief election officers of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana, who warned Gandhi that if his claims are false, he might face up to three years in imprisonment.
The Indian Express
Like several other dailies, The Indian Express’s lead story was on the India-US tariff dispute. Gandhi’s allegations featured in a two-column second lead with the headline – 1 lakh votes stolen in 1 Assembly segment of Karnataka: Rahul’s charge against EC. There was a box breaking down Gandhi’s allegations, including numbers on the alleged duplicate votes, fake or invalid addresses and bulk votes in a single address.
The Hindu
The Hindu featured Gandhi’s ‘voter fraud’ allegation as its lead story on its page, with detailed coverage. The headline of the seven-column half-page lead was ‘Election stolen, says Rahul; EC demands proof’. The three straps broke down the details of Gandhi’s allegation regarding duplicate voters, fake addresses, misuse of Form 6, and how 1 lakh ‘fake voters’ were created in the Mahadevapur assembly seat.
PM Modi’s ‘farmers are a priority’ statement featured as a quarter-page three-column story on The Hindu’s front page.
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times gave prominence to the PM’s statement on safeguarding farmers amid increasing US tariffs.
Gandhi’s ‘voter fraud’ allegations figured as a tiny two-column story, with a two-column picture, with the headline ‘Rahul alleges LS poll roll fraud in K’taka’. The story, however, continued onto a five-column lead on the page 10 of the newspaper.
The Telegraph
While The Telegraph did not feature Gandhi’s ‘voter fraud’ story on its front page, it featured it as one of the pointers on its front-page masthead with the headline: ‘Vote Atom Bomb’ 1 lakh bogus voters in electorate of 6.5 lakh: Rahul.
This story was found on the newspaper’s page 4 as a six-column lead, breaking down Gandhi’s allegations of fake voters, duplicate address and bulk voting.
Hindi papers
Dainik Jagran relegated the story to the bottom of an inside page, giving equal prominence to both Gandhi and EC. Other papers such as Dainik Bhaskar, Jansatta and Hindustan featured the news on the front page. Bhaskar made it the lead on the front page. Hindustan featured it on page 3 as the lead.
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