Soros-backed NGO amplifies Rahul Gandhi’s disinformation on Bihar voter rolls: Inside ADR’s web of foreign links, Rafale lies, and EC disruption
As Bihar heads into a crucial electoral battle in November 2025, the opposition is once again turning to an old playbook: manufacturing outrage over voter disenfranchisement. At the heart of this narrative is the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a so-called electoral reform NGO with deep financial and ideological ties to globalist networks, most notably George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, flanked by the Opposition Mahagathbandhan, a section of left-leaning intellectuals, and activist-lawyers like Prashant Bhushan.
Predictably, the NGO has filed a petition in the top court, scare-mongering “mass disenfranchisement” of voters, parroting the exact talking points being peddled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his recent Bihar campaign speeches.
From filing litigation in the Supreme Court against the Election Commission of India (ECI), to rallying protests on the streets of Patna led by Rahul Gandhi, this nexus is attempting to project a routine, legally empowered revision of voter rolls—the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)—as a sinister plot to disenfranchise the poor and marginalized. A claim that wilfully ignores facts, the law, and the Election Commission’s constitutional mandate.
The Bihar bogey: Manufactured crisis before the polls
On June 24, 2025, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. It’s a standard legal procedure aimed at removing bogus entries and ensuring electoral integrity. But ADR, with impeccable timing, filed a petition claiming that the directive would disenfranchise over 3 crore voters, particularly from marginalised communities.
The petition objects to the exclusion of Aadhaar/ration card as a valid ID, the burden of proof shifted to the voter, the requirement to prove parental citizenship, and “unreasonable” timelines in a “poll-bound” state.
From SC to Streets: Rahul Gandhi Joins the Propaganda Offensive
The Opposition’s hysteria over the ECI’s SIR order reached a crescendo with a call for a statewide bandh on July 9, announced by the Mahagathbandhan, led by the Congress. And not just any protest, Rahul Gandhi himself will lead it.
“Our leader Rahul Gandhi is coming to spearhead the protest. He will lead a grand march from the Income Tax roundabout to the Election Commission office,” said Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar.
The Opposition has planned to block roads, disrupt transport, and paralyse civic life, all in the name of protesting an electoral clean-up that’s well within the legal purview of the Election Commission.
Kumar and other Congress leaders, including Pawan Khera and KC Venugopal, called the SIR “illegal,” alleging that 90% of Bihar’s population lacks the required documents—a statistic pulled out of thin air, with no empirical backing.
Prashant Bhushan amplifies propaganda with Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s alarmist article
Not just Rahul Gandhi, but several others too furthered the propaganda surrounding the SIR. On July 8, 2025, Prashant Bhushan took to X (formerly Twitter) to promote an article by Pratap Bhanu Mehta published in The Indian Express. Bhushan described it as a “brilliant article on how the EC’s ‘special revision’ exercise ahead of Bihar polls is a backdoor NRC designed to disenfranchise lakhs.”
However, Mehta, in his column for the Indian Express, painted a dystopian picture of the EC’s order, calling it a “bureaucratic overreach”, “a pilot for a backdoor NRC”, and “a replication of the logic of demonetisation.” The article was a textbook example of fear-mongering, amplifying unfounded fears and stirring public sentiments against the Election Commission’s decision. But more curiously, it echoed almost verbatim the unsubstantiated claims made by ADR in its legal challenge.
But it is important to dissect the problematic assertions made by Mehta in his article. Mehta claims the documentation requirements are “bewilderingly complex”, failing to acknowledge that they are drawn from statutory norms used in prior voter roll revisions.
He alleges that “lakhs of voters could be excluded”, despite the EC already addressing similar concerns in earlier Summary Revisions. The article discredits the entire process of verification by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) as being potentially “arbitrary”, despite such procedural safeguards being a core feature of Indian electoral processes for decades.
Most provocatively, Mehta declares that this is “not just about Bihar” but a “backdoor NRC”, a political dog whistle deliberately used to stoke fears among marginalised communities. The NRC has often been raised as a bugbear to mobilise anti-Modi forces, most notably during the passage of the CAA, when similar fears were raised to undermine the law meant for fast-tracking the citizenship of religious minorities from India’s troubled neighbourhood.
What does the law say?
Section 21(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, allows the ECI to initiate special revisions with “reasons recorded.” Contrary to ADR’s claims, these revisions are not sudden; the EC had already conducted a Special Summary Revision (SSR) earlier this year. The SIR is merely a follow-up mechanism to correct anomalies identified.
But for ADR, it’s not about the legality. It’s about creating a perception war. They know the average citizen won’t dive into statutory clauses. Instead, they plant doubt, knowing the opposition will do the rest.
Repeat offender: ADR’s lies on the Rafale Deal
But behind ADR’s activist language lies a disturbing truth: this is not the first time the NGO has interfered in the democratic process in India, nor is it just a neutral watchdog concerned about electoral integrity. Its funding trail, ideological leanings, and past activism reveal a deeper nexus that seeks to systematically weaken Indian institutions and fuel anti-government narratives, often timed suspiciously around elections.
During the 2019 general elections, ADR helped amplify one of the biggest fake news campaigns in recent memory: the Rafale deal controversy.
The entire “scam” was based on zero evidence, but was fanned by selective leaks, distorted contract comparisons, and ADR-backed reports shared by propaganda outlets like Huffington Post and The Wire.
Even after the Supreme Court dismissed all review petitions and gave the Modi government a clean chit, ADR continued to parrot questions around transparency, procurement procedures, and pricing—an attempt purely aimed to keep the manufactured outrage alive during elections.
It’s no coincidence that ADR’s misinformation was picked up by Rahul Gandhi’s infamous “Chowkidar Chor Hai” campaign line, which he had to later retract in court.
The Electoral bonds disinformation: A masterclass in duplicity
Perhaps the most sophisticated hit job by ADR came through its collusion with Huffington Post on the issue of electoral bonds.
ADR alleged that electoral bonds introduced “untraceable black money” into politics. But at the same time, Huffington Post’s headline (based on ADR’s data) contradicted itself by saying, “Electoral Bonds Are Traceable: Documents Nail Govt Lie On Anonymity.”
Let’s break that down: Are the bonds traceable or not? If traceable, where is the black money? If not traceable, why complain about anonymity?
This “head-I-win, tails-you-lose” strategy is a deliberate disinformation model.
ADR claimed that 95% of electoral bonds in the first tranche went to BJP. This was conveniently cited without full disclosures, timing, or party-wise receipts. These figures, riddled with assumptions and no primary audit trail, were used to build a misleading public narrative.
Weaponising institutions: Targeting the Election Commission
Earlier this year, ADR challenged the constitutionality of the CEC and EC appointment process, even after the Modi government passed a law that included the Leader of the Opposition in the selection panel, something no previous government had done.
What ADR claimed: The law violates Article 14 and the Supreme Court’s earlier interim order.
What actually happened:
The law was passed democratically by Parliament. SC rejected ADR’s arguments and upheld the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. The court said: “You cannot say that the Election Commission is under the thumb of the executive.”
Still, ADR, via Prashant Bhushan, infamous for his role in the anti-CAA, anti-NRC narratives and even hosting conspiratorial anti-Hindu riot meetings, continued to press the court to overturn the appointments.
Who funds ADR and why it matters
ADR’s activism isn’t just political, it’s foreign-funded and ideologically aligned with the global Left-liberal order.
Here’s a snapshot of its FCRA funding trail:
HIVOS receives direct grants from foreign governments and Soros-linked Open Society Foundations. Omidyar Network funded Forbidden Stories, the platform that fabricated the Pegasus spyware scandal. Thakur Family Foundation funds The Wire and Caravan—far-left outlets known for anti-BJP misinformation. Mysterious foreign individual Archesh Shah from Sydney routinely donates ₹25,000, but remains digitally invisible.
This isn’t just foreign philanthropy. It’s a soft war on Indian sovereignty.
ADR: Part of a larger propaganda web
Put together, ADR plays the role of a “research-intellectual” arm in a wider globalist network:
Foreign-funded NGOs (ADR, Amnesty, Oxfam) Propaganda media (HuffPost, The Wire, Caravan) Judicial activism (via Bhushan, PILs) Political echo chambers (Rahul Gandhi, opposition parties)
Each arm plays its part: ADR creates “data” and “research”. Foreign and domestic media blow it up. Politicians amplify it on the ground. Judiciary gets pulled into unnecessary litigation. Public confidence in institutions is systematically eroded.
Foreign interference dressed up as reforms
ADR is not just an NGO. It is an instrument of political warfare, bankrolled by forces with zero stake in Indian democracy but great interest in disrupting it.
From spreading lies about Rafale, undermining the EC, creating hysteria over unwarranted matters, to now fueling voter suppression myths in Bihar, ADR has consistently acted in ways that harm India’s democratic institutions and cast aspersions over their credibility.
And each time, its script is picked up and amplified, word for word, by Rahul Gandhi and his allies.
It could hardly be a coincidence. In fact, it appears more like a symphony where different elements play their part towards a collective goal.
And that’s certainly not strengthening India’s electoral institutions. It’s regime change by subterfuge.
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