Indian Youth Congress stages protest in Delhi over 'vote theft' in Haryana polls

New Delhi: The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Friday held a protest in Delhi against what it termed as “vote theft” in the recent Haryana Assembly elections, alleging collusion between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission of India.

The protest was led by IYC National President Uday Bhanu Chib, party workers took out a symbolic “funeral procession” from the Youth Congress office towards Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, an official statement said.

Police later stopped the protesters and detained several IYC members, including Chib, the statement said.

Speaking at the demonstration, Chib accused the Election Commission of acting in favour of the ruling BJP.

“The Congress government in Haryana was stolen through vote theft. Rahul Gandhi has shown evidence of this to the nation. Voter lists contained duplicate names, fake photos and entries from non-existent addresses,” he alleged.

Chib said the IYC would take its protest campaign to villages and towns across the country.

“The BJP and the Election Commission are working together to weaken India’s democracy, but we will not let their conspiracy succeed,” he added.

Claiming large-scale irregularities in the electoral rolls, Chib alleged that “25 lakh fake votes” were part of the Haryana voter list.

“This is not a discrepancy; it’s an organised theft of democracy orchestrated for the BJP,” he said, adding that the Youth Congress would continue to demand accountability from the poll body.

According to the IYC, Delhi Police detained several leaders, including National President Uday Bhanu Chib, during the protest.

On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, addressed a press conference in New Delhi, claiming that 25 lakh fake voters were added in the run-up to the elections to influence its result in favour of the BJP.

The Congress leader alleged that the EC had included 25 lakh fake names in the voters list in favour of BJP in Haryana, claiming that Gandhi had dug them out, and one out of every eight votes was a fraudulent one.

BJP president J P Nadda on Wednesday flayed Rahul Gandhi over his vote-theft charge and said the Congress leader is making such "fabricated" claims because he has sensed imminent defeat of the Mahagathbandhan in the Bihar assembly polls.