Spin over scrutiny. Ridicule over reportage.

That was the editorial approach of Hindi primetime television, hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi presented stacks of purported evidence, alleging large-scale irregularities in voter lists – from “fake” voters to “duplicate” entries.

The Election Commission’s primary fact-check of Gandhi’s claims on the day of the presser had been: Why was Gandhi not making these allegations on oath? Studios were quick to parrot the same line, without questioning its legality, unlike this report quoting constitutional experts in The Hindu. 

Instead of deploying their large teams to verify Gandhi’s claims, shows across News18 India, ABP News, Republic Bharat, India TV, Times Now Navbharat, and DD News pivoted to attacking Gandhi’s credibility. Tickers flashed slogans like “Atom bomb ya phussi bomb?”, “Rahul Gandhi ka 70-minute fail”, and “Rahul ke saboot mein kitna dum?”. Anchors treated Gandhi’s silence on the EC’s dare as an admission of guilt, and cast his allegations as an attack on a “sacred” institution.

It wasn’t the first time Gandhi made such allegations. In October 2024, the Congress alleged EVM tampering in the Haryana assembly election, a claim which the ECI rejected. Four months after Gandhi accused the Election Commission of “industrial-scale rigging” in Maharashtra assembly elections in 2024, the EC termed the claims “unsubstantiated” on June 7. The same day, the leader of opposition had written an op-ed in The Indian Express, doubling down on his allegations of voter list manipulation. However, this was the first time a leader of opposition was presenting such allegations with purported evidence in such a format in recent memory.

Such questions around the electoral process are not new. Newslaundry had reported in detail on similar trends in certain Lok Sabha seats before.

But on Thursday, there were next to no questions for the EC. Viewers were served a familiar recipe: theatrics over journalism, rhetorical jousts over factual investigation, and a unified media chorus that once again shielded institutions from scrutiny.

News18 India

Aman Chopra’s nightly primetime show ‘Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge’ started with tickers like “Atom Bomb ka Flop Show”. He didn’t address any of Gandhi’s claims or “evidence” and remained largely fixated on the oath and affidavit. 

In the show, he said, “Sign karne par galat aarop nikle to action ho jayega, nahi sign karenge to farzi kehlaenge. Lekin Rahul Gandhi saab inpe sign karne ke mood me hai nahi” (If the allegations turn out to be false after signing, action will be taken. If he doesn’t sign, they will be called fake. But Rahul Gandhi doesn’t seem to be in the mood to sign them).

He insisted that Gandhi had made a self-goal by not agreeing to sign the oath, suggesting he could be violating the Bharatiya Nyay Sahita (BNS). 

If Gandhi’s claims are proven false, he could face penalties under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Section 227 of the BNS, 2023, which respectively penalise false declarations and the submission of false evidence. 

However, this contradicts what Constitution law expert PDT Achary told The Hindu. He stated that the rule invoked by the EC to make Gandhi take an oath – Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 – is only valid within 30 days of the publication of the draft electoral rolls. The Mahadevapura allegations concern an election held 15 months ago, making EC’s rebuttal legally irrelevant. 

ABP News

Chitra Tripathi’s primetime ‘Mahadangal’ started with tickers like “garbari ke daawe me dam ya faila rahe bhram (Does the voter fraud allegation hold ground or is it spreading lies?)”. 

She tried to defend the EC by equating Gandhi’s claims with the opposition’s objections to the Special Intensive Revision drive in Bihar. In effect, it was a rhetorical joust to dismiss both the opposition’s concerns about irregularities in the Bihar exercise as well as Gandhi’s questions.

While Tripathi did state the EC should be transparent, she largely backed the body by citing the Bihar SIR, invoking the oath the EC has asked Gandhi to take, and mostly, blamed the opposition. 

Even as the Congress spokesperson repeatedly said they are not against SIR’s objective, but have a problem with its time period and the documentation required, Tripathi remained focused on countering the party’s “selective” outrage.

“Aap log SIR ka virodh karenge, aur uske baad SIR jaisi hi baatein agar nikal kar doosre rajya se saamne aayengi, toh phir aap kahenge ki chunav aayog hi ismein doshi hai? (So if you oppose the SIR, and then similar findings come out from other states, you’ll say the Election Commission is to blame for?),” asked Tripathi. 

Opposition parties and election experts have opposed the SIR’s short timeline as it is happening right before the election. They also argue that the process could disproportionately impact marginalised communities, particularly those who may lack proper documentation or face barriers to accessing the registration process. 

“Rahul Gandhi ke aarop hai ki kuch aise sandeghd voter hain jinhone teen-teen baar vote dala hai. Toh wahin doosri taraf agar aap dekhein, SIR ki jo prakriya hai – jo Bihar mein bhi chal rahi hai aur baaki rajyon mein bhi jaayegi – woh isi wajah se ki ja rahi hai. Lekin vipakshi dalon ko sandeh hai ki BJP ko faayda pahunchane ke liye chunav aayog is tarah ke kaam kar raha hai (Rahul Gandhi alleges that there are certain suspicious voters who have cast their vote three times. On the other hand, if you look at the SIR process, which is currently underway in Bihar and will be carried out in other states as well, it is being conducted for this very reason. However, opposition parties suspect that the Election Commission is carrying out such exercises to benefit the BJP)” she added. 

Republic Bharat

On Syed Suhail’s show ‘Yeh Bharat ki Baat’, some of the tickers underplayed Gandhi’s allegations, suggesting they lack heft.

“Nayi press conference, purana aarop (New press conference, old allegations).”

“Atom bomb ya phussi bomb (Atom bomb or dud?).”

“Rahul ke ‘saboot’ mein kitna dum (How strong is Rahul’s ‘evidence’?).”

Suhail said that Gandhi had been trying to attack the Election Commission without filing an affidavit to back his claims. He also accused the Congress leader of making a habit of targeting EC.

“Rahul Gandhi ko Chunav Aayog ne bakayada notice bheja hai. Chunav Aayog ne Rahul Gandhi se sawaal kiya hai. Darasal Rahul ne pehli baar aarop nahi lagaye hain. Pichhle ek mahine mein chaar baar Chunav Aayog par hamle kar chuke hain. Aaj ke aarop ke baad Chunav Aayog sakht ho gaya hai. (Rahul Gandhi has been formally served a notice by the Election Commission. The Election Commission has questioned Rahul Gandhi. In fact, this is not the first time Rahul has made such allegations. In the past one month alone, he has attacked the Election Commission four times. After today’s allegations, the Election Commission has taken a tough stand),” said Suhail.

India TV

On Rajat Sharma’s show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’, the tickers read: 

“Rahul Gandhi ne atom bomb foda, fuss kyon huya?”

“Chunaav aayog par attack, Rahul ke liye setback?”

In Gandhi’s press conference, he accused the EC of manipulating data, stating that voters named Aditya Srivastava and Vishal Singh were listed as voters in multiple constituencies, in violation of electoral rules. In his show, Sharma, mentioned the Uttar Pradesh CEO who rejected the claim. 

However, a fact check by Alt News founder Mohammad Zubair proves otherwise, where he shares a screen recording with Aditya Srivastav’s name present once in the Lucknow and Mumbai voter lists and twice in Karnataka. As per Representation of the People Act 1950, under Section 17 of the, it is illegal to be enrolled in more than one constituency.

Sharma too simply just cornered Rahul Gandhi saying that he has given a clean chit to EVM and the kind of presentation he did, it might seem impressive from outside, a ‘good masala’ for publicity but how he didn’t follow the “due procedure” for the challenge like filing a petition in the High court, or filing on-oath declaration. 

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, anyone wishing to contest the outcome of an election must file a petition in the High Court within 45 days of the result, as outlined in Section 81. This petition must be supported by an affidavit and admissible evidence, as per Section 83. Without submitting a formal, on-record, such claims remain performative.

Sharma continued his barrage of questions against Gandhi, saying how he was sure that the suspected voters only voted for the BJP, which is also true since, in a democracy governed by a secret ballot, there is no legal way to determine who an individual voted for. As per Section 128 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the secrecy of voting is protected by law, and any breach of it is a punishable offence.

So, even if Rahul Gandhi claimed that over one lakh “fake voters” were added, whether they voted and more specifically, whether they voted for the BJP cannot be legally proved and it is up to the Election Commission, under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, to supervise, direct, and control the conduct of elections, including taking action to audit and verify how many such votes were actually cast.

Times Now Navbharat

Sushant Sinha began his show “News Ki Pathshala” on Times Now Navbharat not by examining the data presented by Gandhi, but by mocking the very idea that the exposé on just one Vidhan Sabha seat had so many faults. 

Some of the tickers read:

“Rahul ke 6 Mahine ki research mein jitne ched, pura narrative 6 minute nahi tika? (Rahul’s six months of research had so many holes, the entire narrative didn’t even last six minutes?)”

“Bhayanak expose huye Rahul, voter list wala bomb khud par phoda? (A terrible exposé for Rahul- ended up blowing the voter list bomb on himself?)”

“EC ko expose karne chale rahul ko kaunsa challenge mila ki kat liye (Went to expose the EC, but what challenge did Rahul face that made him back out?)”

The entire focus of his show was directed against Gandhi, questioning how he is raising concerns about voter lists now and not earlier, when the Congress allegedly benefited from vote clustering in places like Malegaon Central in Dhule. He pointed out that Congress won the entire Dhule Lok Sabha seat due to a massive lead in just that one assembly segment. 

Sushant Sinha also conveniently left out the fact that Gandhi’s case wasn't based on numerical suspicion alone but on documented irregularities, down to names, addresses, and photos.

He then ridiculed Gandhi’s claim saying that there is no anti-incumbency against the BJP, calling it his “real pain” not voter fraud, but Modi’s continued popularity. 

And lastly, much like other TV anchors, he stressed how Gandhi’s own exposé of the EC validated the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar, mocking his shift from the faulty EVM machines to the voters’ list now to somehow target the BJP and EC.  

Airing Gandhi’s statement, “When the opposition comes to power, then you’ll see what we do to you,” Sushant painted it as intimidation, not accountability. 

DD News

Sudhir’s show “Decode” on DD News started with some tickers targeting Rahul Gandhi like: 

“Rahul Gandhi ke confusion ka sampurn vishleshan. (A complete analysis of Rahul Gandhi’s confusion)”

“Rahul Gandhi ka atom bomb fatta kyu nahi hai (Why doesn’t Rahul Gandhi’s atom bomb blast)”

“Rahul Gandhi ka 70 minute ka presentation fail. (Rahul Gandhi’s 70-minute presentation fails)”

“Rahul Gandhi ke daavo par dam ki kaami. (Lack of substance in Rahul Gandhi’s claims.)”

Like all his counterparts, Chaudhary focused on the affidavit that the ECI asked Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the ECI does not believe him. 

He also questioned the over 1 lakh suspicious voters that Rahul Gandhi had presented, questioning how he is sure that all these voters voted for the BJP, could they not have voted for the Congress or JDS.

Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.