After Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi alleges 'vote chori' in Haryana polls

Gandhi alleged that the modus operandi was "centralised" and the BJP and EC were planning to now "steal" the Bihar Assembly polls

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Election Commission (EC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of colluding to “steal” the Haryana Assembly polls in October 2024. Gandhi alleged a “theft” of as many as 2.5 million votes in a poll that the Congress lost by 22,779 votes.

 

He alleged that the modus operandi was “centralised” and the BJP and EC were planning to now “steal” the Bihar Assembly polls, just as they did in the Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls in 2024.

 

He accused the EC and BJP of “destroying” India’s democracy.

 

Responding to Gandhi’s allegations, EC officials pointed to the apparent contradiction in the Congress leader’s statements.

 

 

They said that Gandhi has opposed the special intensive revision (SIR) but flags impurities in past polls.

 

EC officials said Gandhi's vote manipulation charge is “unfounded” since no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana, nor instances of multiple voting flagged when it happened.

 

Union minister Kiren Rijiju also accused Gandhi of trying to “instigate” the GenZ and asserted that such efforts will never succeed as India's youngsters are wise enough not to fall for such provocations.

 

At his press conference earlier in the day at the Congress headquarters, Gandhi urged ‘Gen Z’ and youth to pursue the path of truth and non-violence to uncover the truth.

 

At the press conference, Gandhi released “evidence” of what he termed as “H-files”. Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, pointed to five methods used for “vote theft”.

 

These were the use of fake photos of electors, blurred photos, allowing voters from Uttar Pradesh affiliated to the BJP to vote in Haryana, deleting electors sympathetic to the Congress from the voters’ list and house number zero shown as addresses.

 

The Congress leader said once his party found out about "vote theft" in Mahadevapura and Alland (both in Karnataka), it suspected that it was happening across the country. He went on to show the photograph used multiple times in the Haryana polling by fake voters as an example of "duplicate voters".

 

He said it belonged to a Brazilian national, who is a model in her country, and was used to cast 22 votes on 10 booths in the Rai Assembly seat. "This is a centralised operation… The lady in question is a Brazilian model. This is proof of a centralised operation," Gandhi said.

 

Gandhi held the press conference on the eve of the first phase of polling on 121 seats in the Bihar Assembly polls, and the second day of the SIR in 12 states and Union Territories.

 

EC officials asked why the Congress’ booth-level agents (BLAs) made no claims and objections during revision to avoid multiple names. BLAs are appointed by political parties to flag irregularities, if any, in electoral rolls.

 

The EC officials underlined that "zero appeals" were filed against electoral rolls and only 22 election petitions are currently pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

 

As many as 23 election petitions were filed, and one was later withdrawn. The officials said Gandhi has raised the issue of the Rai and Hodal Assembly seats in Haryana.

 

“Since election petitions have been filed in both the constituencies among the 23 filed for Haryana assembly elections, Gandhi may be advised to use all his evidence there,” an official suggested. An election petition can be filed within 45 days of the announcement of results in the high court of that state.

 

The BJP won 48 seats in the 2024 Haryana polls, while the Congress, which was predicted to win by many exit polls, won 37 seats. The INLD won two seats while independent candidates bagged three in the 90-member Assembly.

 

On the issue of zero house numbers, the EC officials said 'House Number Zero' is also for houses where the panchayat and municipalities have not given house numbers.

 

Rijiju rejected Gandhi's allegations as "baseless and false", and said he is alleging vote theft in the Haryana polls and abusing the EC, while his party colleagues have said the Congress lost the election due to its own reasons.

 

“During the Haryana polls, their senior leader, Kumari Selja, had said the Congress will not be able to win because Haryana Congress leaders wanted the party to lose,” Rijiju said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.