Kharge demands fresh Indian elections, alleging electoral process is being undermined

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded the dissolution of India’s Lok Sabha and state assemblies, alleging that the country’s elected governments are based on an illegal electoral process. Speaking to reporters in Kalaburagi on Saturday, October 3, 2026, Kharge called for fresh elections conducted with ballot papers. He alleged that electronic voting machines were being misused and that the continuing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls contained serious irregularities.

Kharge said the revision process was harming poor people, workers, the uneducated and minorities. He questioned whether an election could be free and fair if hundreds of names were removed from a polling booth, and alleged that attempts were also being made to add names improperly. The Congress president accused members of the BJP and RSS of visiting wards, panchayats and villages to seek the deletion of voters’ names and fill out forms.

These claims were presented by Kharge; the supplied material does not include a response from the government, the BJP, the RSS or the Election Commission. He also criticised the 2023 law governing the appointment and conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners. Kharge objected to the removal of the Chief Justice of India from the appointment committee and the inclusion of a minister, and alleged that legal protections for election officials weaken accountability.

Kharge said the INDIA bloc’s September 30 meeting, attended by representatives of 20 parties and their legal cells, had agreed that the revision exercise was adversely affecting vulnerable groups. He said opposition parties would continue demonstrations across the country. He referred to a planned October 6 march by opposition MPs to the Election Commission in New Delhi and said protests would take place every few days.

He also said the Congress would continue to challenge the process despite questioning the prospects for legal action. The supplied report records Kharge’s allegations and demands but does not state whether any dissolution or change to the voting system has been accepted by the authorities.