Congress to submit five crore signatures to Prez over ‘vote theft’

New Delhi: The Congress would hold flag-off events at all state headquarters across the country on November 8 to mark the culmination of the first phase of its ‘Vote chor, gaddi chhod’ campaign against the BJP.

AICC general secretary (organisation), K C Venugopal, said that so far, the Congress has collected over five crore signatures of people expressing their anger and resentment against “vote chori” by the BJP in “collusion” with the Election Commission.

The signatures of people expressing resentment against this “murder of democracy” would be handed over to the President of India later, Venugopal said in a statement.

He said that at a meeting of party general secretaries, PCC presidents, and other office bearers held on Wednesday, it was unanimously decided that the first phase of the campaign will culminate with flag-off events at all state headquarters on Saturday (November 8).

These programmes will be attended by senior leaders and party functionaries, symbolizing the collective unity and determination of the Congress party in this national struggle to safeguard democracy, he said. “So far, over five crore signatures have been collected nationwide - a powerful testimony to the anger, apprehension, and deep concern among ordinary citizens about the naked murder of democracy through manipulative practices such as duplicate voting, fake voter entries, and fraudulent addresses in the electoral rolls,” Venugopal said.

He said the Congress has been consistently raising serious concerns about alleged electoral roll manipulation and electoral “fraud”, undermining the sanctity of India’s democratic process.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has repeatedly exposed the dangerous “vote chori”, saying it is a direct assault on the people’s mandate. As part of the Congress’ nationwide movement to defend democracy, the party launched the ‘Vote chor gaddi chhod’ (Vote thief, vacate your seat of power) signature campaign, a public outreach and door-to-door initiative to mobilize citizens against alleged electoral fraud.

Beginning on September 15, 2025, following the successful culmination of the ‘Vote chor, gaddi chhod’ state-level rallies, the campaign has seen participation from lakhs of citizens across districts, blocks, and mandals, Venugopal said, adding that party functionaries, community leaders, professionals, and the public joined hands to register their protest against this “subversion of democratic norms”.

“After the culmination events, all collected signatures will be dispatched to the AICC Headquarters, and in the next phase, the Congress party will continue gathering more signatures from citizens across India.