The Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi has stepped up its campaign against the election commission of India for its alleged ‘vote chori’ practices by releasing a new video depicting how fake votes were being cast. The video uses Bollywood actors and is a professional production rather than being a true portrayal of disenfranchised people of India.
Unsurprisingly, the party chief Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to the people of India to raise their voice and save constitutional institutions from the “clutches of the BJP.”
Congress president Kharge wrote, “Do not let your rights to vote be snatched away. Ask questions, demand answers this time! Raise your voice against vote chori,” tagging the advertisement titled ‘booth par vote chori”.
“Free constitutional institutions from the clutches of the BJP,” was his cryptic message to the people of India on X.
Congress party’s star leader Rahul Gandhi also shared the minute-long video on social media saying, “Aapke vote ki chori aapke adhikar ki chori, aapki pehchaan ki chori hai.”
The video shows a family entering a polling booth with two people telling them that their votes have already been cast by them and it ends with the two persons casting fake votes showing a thumbs up to an officer sitting at the table with ‘election chori aayog’ display plate on his table.
The Congress on Tuesday had claimed that “vote chori” was a “do-or-die” issue for it, and announced a roadmap to take its allegations to the people through various activities, including taking out ‘Loktantra bachao mashaal marches’ on August 14 evening.
The opposition party also claimed that as more “evidence” of “vote chori” was coming to the fore, it seemed that it was not mere theft but “dacoity.”
The party held a meeting led by Rahul Gandhi was attended by – Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, as well as treasurer Ajay Maken.
Claiming the “big issue” of “vote chori” has come to the fore, Congress leader and AICC in-charge of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Kanhaiya Kumar said the Congress will take this to the people with three important programmes:
- ‘Loktantra bachao mashaal march’ on August 14;
- “Vote chor, gaddi chhorh (vote thieves, relinquish power)” – between August 22 and September 7; and
- “Vote Adhikaar Yatra” – between September 15 and October 15.
He asserted that the whole INDIA bloc was together on this.
The Congress has also launched a web portal – votechori.in/ecdemand – for people to register and demand accountability from the Election Commission of India.
People can click on the portal link and download “vote chori proof, demand EC accountability and report vote chori.”
On Monday August 11, opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Kharge and Pawar, staged a protest march from the Parliament House to the Election Commission office against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar which had the now infamous “flying kiss” by TMC MP Mahua Moitra while feigning loss of consciousness.
Countering the claims of the Gandhis, the BJP has come out firing from all sides claiming the “vote chori” guilty party is the Gandhi family citing the fact that Sonia Gandhi had her vote registered in India illegally twice while carrying Italian citizenship.
BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), saying, “Sonia Gandhi’s tryst with India’s voters’ list is riddled with glaring violations of electoral law.”
“This perhaps explains Rahul Gandhi’s fondness for regularising ineligible and illegal voters, and his opposition to the SIR. Her name first appeared on the rolls in 1980 — three years before she became an Indian citizen and while she still held Italian citizenship. At the time, the Gandhi family lived at 1, Safdarjung Road, the official residence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Until then, the voters registered at that address were Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Maneka Gandhi.”
“In 1980, the electoral rolls of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency were revised with January 1, 1980, as the qualifying date. During this revision, Sonia Gandhi’s name was added, appearing at serial number 388 in polling station 145”, Malviya added tagging a copy of the requisition slip for adding Sonia Gandhi’s name.
Ex-Union Minister Anurag Thakur also alleged voter registration irregularities in Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Diamond Harbour, and Kannauj accusing Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Akhilesh Yadav of winning through “vote theft.”