'Crisis in Indian politics': Rahul Gandhi questions 2024 Lok Sabha mandate, alleges democracy was ‘destroyed’ in India in 2014

Synopsis

Rahul Gandhi spoke at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, claiming that democracy in India has been undermined. He alleged that the 2014 general election introduced unprecedented funding into the political system. Gandhi expressed concerns over the credibility of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections and pointed out discrepancies in voter data. He also noted the addition of new voters in Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly polls.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched yet another attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party after he alleged that democracy in India was undermined in 2014, claiming that the general election that year marked a major shift in the country's political and electoral landscape.

Speaking at the Bharat Summit 2026 in Hyderabad, he also questioned the credibility of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, citing alleged discrepancies in voter data and the addition of new voters in Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly polls.

Recalling the 2014 general election, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the scale of money entering the political system was unlike anything India had witnessed before. He argued that the election disrupted an established political arrangement in which close contests and coalition governments had shaped electoral outcomes.

"In 2014, we witnessed a completely new election, something we've never seen before. Millions and millions and millions of dollars injected into the political system," he said.

"Millions and millions and millions of dollars injected into the political system... The electoral system that was used to close fights, coalition, is suddenly upturned, and I would be lying if I said that the opposition was in shock," he added.

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Gandhi admitted that the Opposition was initially caught off guard by the change. He described the following decade as a period of crisis in Indian politics, alleging that it took years for the Opposition to understand what had happened to the electoral system.

"There was this crisis in Indian politics for a decade. And then suddenly, we discovered what was happening. We discovered it, and we have proven it without any doubt is that democracy was destroyed in India in 2014," he said.

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