15 August 2024: Political economist and author Parakala Prabhakar has raised serious allegations against the BJP, accusing the ruling party of manipulating election results in 79 Lok Sabha constituencies to secure a third consecutive term in power. Speaking at the Sabarmati Study Centre within the Ernakulam District Congress Committee (DCC) office on Wednesday, Prabhakar claimed that the BJP’s victory was engineered through a deliberate mismatch between the votes polled and the final vote count, reports Onmanorama.
Prabhakar cited a study conducted by Vote for Democracy (VFD), a Maharashtra-based citizens’ platform, which analyzed discrepancies in the voting process during the seven-phase general elections held earlier this year. The study, according to Prabhakar, revealed a stark difference between the provisional vote counts and the final figures released by the Election Commission, with nearly 5 crore additional votes allegedly counted in favor of the BJP.
Prabhakar, who is married to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, emphasized that the delay in releasing the final vote counts was a key indicator of the manipulation. “In the history of Indian elections since 1952, the difference between provisional and final vote counts has never exceeded 1 percent. However, in 2024, this difference reached an unprecedented 12.5 percent, particularly in states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
