Rahul Gandhi: 25 Lakh Fake Voters in Haryana

New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday once again targeted the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) and electoral irregularities.

He cited the electoral list of Haryana to claim that 25,41,144 were fake voters with 5,21,619 duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid addresses and 19,26,351 bulk voters.

“One in eight voters in Haryana are fake and despite that the Congress loses by 22,779 votes which was the difference in eight seats,” Gandhi said, adding that 1,24,177 fake pictures of voters were used. “The big picture is that 22,000 is the margin and 25 lakh is this... You can understand that there was no election in Haryana. There was a theft (of elections) in Haryana with 2 crore voters and it is very clear who is responsible for the theft.” “This means one in every eight voters in Haryana is fake, about 12.5 per cent,” he said.

During a press conference titled “The H-Files,” Gandhi presented alleged evidence, including a “centralised plan” where a Brazilian model’s photograph was used 22 times in 10 booths in the Rai Assembly constituency using names such as “Seema, Sweety and Saraswati” for her.

“The message is that the Gen Z and youth have the power to restore our democracy with satya and ahimsa. Peacefully, but by expressing their desire for a democratic India, by fighting for a democratic India and by resisting this wholesale theft of democracy and murder of the Constitution and democracy,” he said

Rahul Gandhi said he was questioning the ECI and the democratic process “with 100 per cent proof.” He accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two other commissioners of colluding with the BJP to ensure the ruling party’s victory in Haryana, claiming they were “in partnership” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Voter list integrity is not the responsibility of political parties,” he said. “It is the EC’s job to guarantee that. Instead, the EC shifts the burden onto parties. If they want us to solve it, give us the full database, but they don’t.”

He also shared a video of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, allegedly saying before the results that “arrangements” had been made for the BJP’s victory.

The Election Commission of India asked why booth level agents, appointed by political parties to flag irregularities, had not raised objections during voter list revisions if such discrepancies existed. It asked why the LoP opposes special intensive revision (SIR) aimed at cleaning up electoral rolls if there are impurities in past polls. The BJP accused Gandhi of attacking the Commission to “hide his failures and defame the country’s democracy.”

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that the CEC “lied to the people” by stating that “house number zero” was used for homeless citizens. He said “zero-number houses” were created by booth-level officers where no official address existed, inflating voter rolls.

Calling it “Sarkar chori,” Gandhi claimed that democracy was being subverted through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which he described as a new tool for large-scale voter fraud. He warned that the same pattern was now being “industrialised” in Bihar, ahead of its first-phase polls.

“Every Opposition party understands this. If the voter list is a lie, there is no democracy,” he said, adding that his duty as Opposition leader was to “show the real world people are living in.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Haryana posted a detailed post on X, noting that the draft electoral rolls were shared with political parties on August 2, 2024, and that over 20,000 booth-level officers handled revisions after receiving numerous claims and objections. The final rolls were published on August 27, 2024, with no appeals filed against them.

The CEO added that only five complaints were received, with none recorded during post-poll scrutiny. So far, 23 election petitions have been filed challenging the October 2024 Assembly results.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as “false and baseless,” accusing him of “playing games with anti-India forces” to defame the country. He said Gandhi was raising the Haryana issue to divert attention from the Bihar polls.

“Being Leader of the Opposition, he should focus on serious issues instead of wasting time on baseless claims,” Rijiju said, adding that Gandhi “goes abroad during elections, avoids people on the ground, and then blames others when his party loses.”