SRINAGAR: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of securing victory in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections through large-scale voter fraud, alleging that nearly 25 lakh of the two crore voters in the state were fake.
Addressing a press conference, Gandhi claimed that one in every eight voters listed on the electoral rolls was bogus and charged the Election Commission (EC) with aiding the BJP by allowing duplicate and fictitious names to remain. He presented photographs and official records of individuals he alleged were fraudulent voters.
Among his examples, Gandhi cited a Brazilian model who purportedly voted 22 times at a single polling booth in Rai. Using a scan source, he said, the image led to the model’s verified official page. Another case involved a woman who allegedly appeared in the electoral rolls 223 times. Gandhi also claimed that several BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh were listed as voters in Haryana.
“Why doesn’t the EC remove duplicate voters from the rolls? Because they help the BJP win,” Gandhi alleged, calling it part of a “centralised operation” designed to secure the party’s victory.
He said that despite exit polls predicting a Congress sweep, the BJP managed to form the government. Displaying a purported video dated 6 October 2024, he quoted Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini as saying, “The BJP is forming a one-sided government in the state and we have all the arrangements in place.” Gandhi questioned what “arrangements” Saini was referring to and accused him of complacency in electoral malpractice.
The Congress leader further alleged that the EC removed around 3.5 lakh Congress supporters from the voter rolls. “Many of these voters participated in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year but were barred from voting in the state elections,” he said.
“There was no election in Haryana — there was a theft,” Gandhi declared. “This gentleman colluded with the BJP to ensure Congress didn’t win. Every piece of evidence is from EC records. We have only verified and presented them to show the reality of India’s elections.”
He warned that the same pattern could be replicated elsewhere. “This system has been industrialised and will be used in other states. You will see the same thing happen in Bihar. It’s a systematic attempt to destroy the Constitution and democracy,” Gandhi added.
