*Modi regime’s playbook of vote theft, institutional capture exposed in Indian Punjab*
New Delhi: The Modi government’s playbook of institutional capture, vote manipulation and agency terror is once again on full display in Indian Punjab.
This exposes the scale of assault on democracy ahead of Assembly elections due in early 2027.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on September 24, 2026, in Chandigarh sharply criticized the BJP-led Centre’s pre-election machinery, accusing it of deploying central agencies as a coordinated flying squad whenever opposition-ruled states approach elections.
*ED raids, vote deletion to intimidate voters*
Cheema said that with elections approaching, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched raids targeting premises linked to Aam Aadmi Party figures and relatives of ministers.
First comes the Election Commission, instructed to delete opposition votes, then the CBI, ED and Income Tax Department arrive to harass ordinary residents, create an atmosphere of fear and intimidate voters.
He demanded immediate cancellation of elections in affected states and fresh polling using the old, untampered voter lists. He accused the ED of acting “like dacoits,” breaking locks even on locked premises and displayed an official search document relating to a relative of Cabinet Minister Hardev Singh Mundian, which reportedly stated that no incriminating material had been recovered.
Cheema asserted that the public now sees how votes are deleted and stolen to help the BJP seize power and portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as fearful of public backlash.
*Agencies turned into BJP’s electoral machinery*
Critics argue that the Election Commission, CBI, ED and Income Tax Department are increasingly being used as extensions of the BJP’s electoral machinery rather than functioning as independent institutions.
Opposition-ruled states face selective targeting while BJP-ruled states are spared similar scrutiny.
The pattern is systematic: delete votes, manufacture fear, and then claim “victory.”
Locked houses being broken into, search documents reportedly recording no incriminating material, and growing fear ahead of the 2027 Punjab elections raise serious questions about democratic accountability and institutional independence.
*ED cases up fourfold, convictions only 2%*
The scale of the machinery is reflected in figures attributed to government data and independent tracking. Since 2014, ED cases involving politicians have reportedly increased fourfold compared with the previous decade.
Of the 121 prominent politicians investigated between 2014 and 2022, 95% or 115 individuals reportedly belonged to opposition parties.
In the decade leading up to early 2025, the ED registered 193 cases involving MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other political figures, reportedly resulting in just two convictions. Searches also reportedly surged from approximately 112 during the previous decade to more than 3,000 in subsequent years, with assets worth tens of thousands of crores attached.
Critics contend that raids intensify in the run-up to state elections in opposition-governed territories while convictions remain exceptionally rare, proving that investigative powers are serving political intimidation rather than impartial justice.
