NEW DELHI: In a dramatic revelation today, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of large-scale voter fraud in last year’s Haryana Assembly elections. Alleging that 25 lakh votes were “stolen” in a state with around 2 crore registered voters, Gandhi said this accounted for nearly 12.5 per cent of the electorate — “one in every eight voters.”
He claimed that the Congress had clear indications of irregularities soon after polling concluded. “Several Congress candidates told us that something was wrong,” Gandhi said, adding that every exit poll had predicted a Congress victory but the results showed a BJP win instead.
“Arrangements were made,” alleges Gandhi
Gandhi played a video clip of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini allegedly speaking to the media two days after polling, claiming that the BJP had made “arrangements” and was confident of winning. “What were these arrangements? This was when every party believed the Congress was sweeping the election. He is smiling, knowing something the rest of us don’t,” Gandhi remarked.
He further said that for the first time in Haryana’s history, postal ballots and polling booth results showed completely opposite trends, raising questions about the integrity of the election process. “We are questioning the Election Commission and the democratic process of India — and we are doing this with 100 per cent proof,” Gandhi asserted.
Narrow defeats and alleged irregularities
According to Gandhi, the Congress lost eight constituencies by very slim margins — including one by just 32 votes. The combined difference across these seats was 22,779 votes. “Congress lost Haryana by just 22,779 votes. That shows how close it was,” he said.
Gandhi shared several instances to support his claim of voter list manipulation. Displaying examples of duplicate voter IDs, he pointed out 22 entries in the Haryana voter list carrying the same woman’s photograph — which, he claimed, was actually of a Brazilian model whose picture was freely available on a stock photo website. “This same woman votes under multiple names — Sweety, Seema, Saraswati — in 10 different booths,” Gandhi said.
In another instance, he claimed there were 100 voter IDs with the same woman’s photo in one Assembly segment and another case where a single photograph appeared 223 times in two booths. “This is why the Election Commission destroys CCTV footage — to hide the truth,” he alleged.
“Centralised operation to aid BJP”
Calling the alleged manipulation a “centralised operation,” Gandhi accused the Election Commission of helping the BJP by ignoring these duplicates. “The Election Commission can remove duplicates in seconds — they have the technology. The only reason they don’t is because they are helping the BJP,” he charged.
He also claimed that 3.5 lakh entries were deleted from the voter list ahead of polling. “The whole plan was to convert a Congress landslide victory into a loss,” Gandhi alleged.
Election Commission and government respond
Responding to Gandhi’s claims, sources within the Election Commission questioned the Congress party’s vigilance during polling. “Polling agents of the Congress are supposed to object if they suspect the identity of a voter or find that someone has already voted. What were they doing on voting day?” a source asked.
The officials also pointed out that the Congress did not raise any formal objections during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which is meant to identify duplicate entries and remove names of deceased or relocated voters.
A source further questioned how Gandhi could conclude that all fake voters supported the BJP. “If a Congress leader has his name in two state voter lists, does that mean he votes twice?” the official asked, adding that such allegations without evidence undermine public faith in the democratic process.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also reacted, saying, “If the Congress has concerns about voter lists, it can approach the Election Commission. If it doesn’t trust the Commission, it can go to court. But it cannot keep blaming EVMs and the system for its failures.”
Political storm brewing
Rahul Gandhi’s explosive remarks are expected to trigger a political storm, with the Congress likely to intensify its campaign against the BJP ahead of upcoming state elections. Meanwhile, the Election Commission is under pressure to issue a formal statement on the matter.
With the opposition raising questions over the transparency of India’s electoral system and the ruling party dismissing the allegations as political theatre, the debate over electoral integrity is set to dominate the national discourse once again.