Rahul in Raebareli: We will prove vote chori again in more dramatic ways

In his visit to the Congress stronghold and his constituency of Raebareli on Wednesday, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the slogan 'vote chor, gaddi chhod (step down, vote thief)' was resonating across the country and would be proven in “more dramatic ways” in the days to come.

Speaking briefly to reporters outside an event venue during his two-day visit to the parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, he said, “The main slogan is ‘vote chor, gaddi chhod’ and that is being proved across the country. We will prove it again and again in more and more dramatic ways.”

Gandhi encountered opposition from BJP workers upon his arrival and his motorcade was blocked from reaching its destination after UP minister Dinesh Pratap Singh and his supporters staged a dharna, blocking the path of Gandhi’s convoy. Tensions escalated when police tried to remove Singh from the road, leading to a scuffle between BJP workers and the police.

Meanwhile, at a closed-door meeting with party workers from Harchandpur Vidhan Sabha in Dedauli, Gandhi referred to alleged instances of electoral fraud in Maharashtra and Karnataka, stating that there was “black and white” evidence of vote theft following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

According to a party source present at the meeting, Gandhi claimed that in Maharashtra, the Congress and its alliance partners had performed well in the Lok Sabha polls but were nearly wiped out in the subsequent Assembly elections. He alleged that nearly 1 crore new voters had entered the electoral rolls after the Lok Sabha polls, and while the vote count for the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena remained the same, all new votes went to the BJP.

Gandhi said he had asked the Election Commission to investigate how such a large number of new voters appeared within four months. “The Commission refused, saying they will not give us the list, nor provide any video,” the source quoted him as saying.

In Karnataka, he alleged a similar pattern. Congress workers reportedly scrutinised voter rolls in one assembly segment of Bengaluru Central and identified around two lakh fake voters, which Gandhi said contributed to a BJP victory in the area. “Bengaluru Central has seven assembly constituencies. Our workers spent four months investigating just one, and that is what they found,” he said.

He further alleged that such irregularities were widespread — in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and “on a massive scale” in Gujarat. He added that similar discrepancies had surfaced during his recent campaign in Bihar. “Some people who are alive have been struck off the voter list. They are not being treated as alive in the records,” he claimed.

Local Congress leaders said Gandhi’s visit to Raebareli includes several public engagements and review meetings. Posters featuring Gandhi, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were seen in the city, reflecting the trio's recent participation in the successful Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar.

UP Congress president Ajai Rai said Gandhi’s visit has energised both the general public and party workers across Uttar Pradesh. “There is a wave of excitement and joy among people today. Our leader has completely exposed the vote chori (theft) taking place in the country. The entire nation is feeling proud of him,” Rai said.

With PTI inputs