Will expose more ‘vote chori’ by BJP in 6 months: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, 27 August, launched a scathing attack on the NDA government, alleging large-scale electoral fraud during last year’s Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at a public rally in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district as part of his Voter Adhikar Yatra, Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home minister Amit Shah and the Election Commission of “stealing votes”.

“I can say with full confidence that the BJP indulged in vote chori in at least 70–80 Lok Sabha seats. We have already started working to expose this theft, and in the next six months I will reveal the truth to the country,” Rahul Gandhi claimed.

During the Voter Adhikar Yatra, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi alleged, “Wherever new voters are added, the BJP wins. We asked the Election Commission for the list of these voters, but they refused. We then sought polling booth videography, which was also denied. The law requires candidates to have access to such footage, yet the rules were changed—allowing videography to be scrapped within 45 days. Now the Election Commission can act as it wishes, without accountability.”

‘BJP’s Gujarat model is vote theft’

Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP’s much-publicised Gujarat model was “not about development, but about stealing votes.” He warned that after “snatching away votes”, the BJP would strip citizens of other rights as well.

He stressed that Bihar urgently needed jobs and development, adding that “stopping vote theft is the first step” towards securing them. “Bihar has always been the land of revolution — from Champaran to today’s fight against vote chori. This movement will spread across the country from here,” he said.

Attack on Election Commission

Reiterating his charge that the BJP was “stealing elections” in collusion with the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi questioned the 2023 law granting legal immunity to election commissioners.

Rahul Gandhi said, “We asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Maharashtra for the list of new voters, but they refused. We then requested videography from polling booths, pointing out that the law mandates candidates should get it. Instead, they changed the rules — now the footage can be deleted within 45 days. The ECI is acting arbitrarily and without fear. Why? Because in 2023, the BJP passed a law granting immunity to the chief election commissioner. Farmers and labourers can be put on trial, but not the CEC. This law was brought only because vote theft is taking place.”

Jibe at PM Modi over Trump claim

The Congress leader also targeted Modi over former US President Donald Trump’s remarks that he had asked Modi to end military tensions with Pakistan in May 2019. “Trump gave him 24 hours, but Modi obeyed in just five. He claims to have a 65-inch chest, but the reality is that he is a coward,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.

With agency inputs