‘Brazilian model voted 22 times’: Rahul alleges ‘vote chori’ in Haryana, BJP counters
NEW DELHI: The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday dropped his much-awaited “H bomb’’, alleging massive vote fraud in the Haryana Assembly elections last year.
He alleged that 25 lakh votes were stolen in Haryana, which has a total of 2 crore voters. “This means one in eight voters in Haryana are fake, 12.5 per cent,” he said at a press conference during which he put up a presentation, “The H-files”, to back his claim.
Gandhi said several Congress candidates told them after the election that something was wrong. He said all the exit polls had predicted a Congress victory in the Haryana election, but the actual results showed a BJP victory.
He also showed a video of Nayab Singh Saini, BJP leader and Chief Minister, telling the media before the results that “arrangements” had been made and the BJP is winning the polls. “What were these arrangements? This is two days after the election when everybody is saying that the Congress party is sweeping the election. This gentleman is very sure and smiling that the BJP has made arrangements,” Gandhi said.
He also said this was the first time in Haryana’s history that the postal voting result was opposite to the results in polling booths. “I am questioning the Election Commission and the democratic process in India, and I am doing this with 100 per cent proof. We are sure that a plan was put in motion to convert Congress’s landslide victory into a loss,” he said.
Gandhi said the Congress lost eight constituencies with very slim margins, including one where it lost by just 32 votes. These margins added up to 22,779. “Congress lost the Haryana election by 22,779 votes, to give you a sense of how close it became,” he said.
He alleged that a ‘centralised plan’ to ‘steal’ the votes included a Brazilian model whose photograph was used 22 times in 10 booths in the Rai Assembly constituency, using names such as ‘Seema, Sweety and Saraswati’ for her.
The BJP dismissed the allegation of mass vote theft as “false and baseless” and accused the Congress leader of raising questions on the Election Commission to hide his failures and defame the country’s democracy.
If there is any irregularity with the voting, then one must flag it with the EC or approach the court, said BJP’s Kiren Rijiju. “But he never does it,” the minister said.
Election Commission officials also trashed the allegation as unfounded, saying no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana. “The message is that 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,” Gandhi said while addressing the media at Indira Bhawan. Gandhi alleged that the EC “colluded” with the prime minister and the BJP to launch “Operation Sarkar Chori” to convert the Congress’ landslide victory in the state into a loss in 2024. Gandhi alleged that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the two election commissioners colluded with the BJP to destroy democratic foundations and to ensure the ruling party’s victory in Haryana.
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 Congress leader also alleged that the CEC lied to the people of India when he stated that “house number zero” is given to homeless people. CEC Kumar had said crores of people have ‘zero number’ in their house addresses because the panchayat or the municipality has not given the number to the house.
“Why is the Election Commission not removing duplicates? It is because if it does so, it would result in fair elections and it doesn’t want fair elections,” Gandhi alleged.
Showing the photograph of the woman he claimed was a Brazilian model, he said she is “one of 25 lakh such records in Haryana which is proof of a centralised operation”.
According to Gandhi, “Sarkar Chori” has destroyed India’s democracy and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue is the latest weapon. This system of “vote chori” is now being implemented in Bihar and it is being industrialised, he said a day ahead of the first phase of Bihar polls. Gandhi said his party will coordinate with opposition parties against SIR but alleged that democracy in the country has been murdered. Asked about moving the courts, he said, “The Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, is watching...it is not hidden.”
