New Delhi | The BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress of making "baseless" claims about 'vote theft' and targeting the Election Commission (EC) in collusion with a Delhi-based think tank, which it claimed gets foreign funding to interfere with elections in the country through political parties working "against national interest".
This came after Sanjay Kumar, a psephologist and a professor with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), shared voter data of two assembly seats in Maharashtra relating to last year's state elections in a post on X on Sunday and deleted it on Tuesday, apologising for posting erroneous data on the microblogging platform.
The post had claimed a significant decrease in voter numbers in two assembly seats in state polls compared to the 2024 general elections, which were held nearly six months apart.
Reacting sharply, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia lashed out at Kumar for posting "false data" on X which he claimed was used by the Opposition to target the EC, and called it a "dangerous game".
"This survey organisation (CSDS) is nothing but a puppet in the hands of leaders like Rahul Gandhi who could not win people's trust. He needs such an organisation which can provide fake data and facts so that he can make baseless allegations," Bhatia charged.
He further alleged, "Its foreign funding comes so that interference in elections in India can be done through those parties which work against national interest and raise questions on our Army... Rahul Gandhi said Indian soldiers were thrashed by Chinese soldiers."
The "lie" that Kumar posted on X remained there for 40 hours and kept spreading "rumours", he charged.
"Congress leader Pawan Khera tweets on this and then deletes. Rahul Gandhi's baseless allegations are also based on CSDS data," Bhatia charged.
"It's criminal negligence... Who will take its responsibility? Will Rahul Gandhi apologise to the country?" he asked.
Deleting his post on Tuesday, Kumar wrote on X, "I sincerely apologise for the tweets posted regarding Maharashtra elections. Error occurred while comparing data of 2024 LS and 2024 AS. The data in row was misread by our Data team."
The tweet has since been removed, he said, adding, "I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation."
Rejecting Kumar's apology, Bhatia accused the CSDS of contributing to the opposition parties' "narrative setting".
He said the CSDS conducted a caste-based survey of Hindu society showing in its report differences among them and the parties they prefer to vote in elections.
"When it comes to Muslim votes, however, no such survey has been conducted to find out differences among the community members, their preferences and their needs," he said.
"What kind of agency? This is criminal negligence. This is crime," the BJP spokesperson said, asserting that the BJP will continue to raise "this issue" firmly and take it to a "logical conclusion".
Any "truthful" Indian, irrespective of his or her religion, will vote for the party which talks about national interest, "like the BJP and our leader Narendra Modi", he said.
In a post on X, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said the CSDS has long positioned itself as a research institution, but a closer look at its funding sources, survey designs and outputs reveals a "troubling pattern".
"CSDS has received repeated infusions of funds from organisations like the Ford Foundation and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada), backed by global think tanks including the Gates Foundation, DFID (UK), NORAD (Norway), Hewlett Foundation and Dutch agencies," he said.
"These are not disinterested donors. Their track record in India shows a clear pattern — inject money into institutions that can fracture society from within, especially along caste and community lines," the BJP leader charged.
Bhatia alleged that the CSDS is not just another think tank. With its foreign funding, selective caste lens and unscientific methods, it is an instrument of narrative warfare," he said.
"Its output is not scholarship — it is strategy. And India must recognise the danger," Bhatia added.
