INDIA’s opposition Congress party leaders Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, intensified their attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Patry (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing them of colluding to “steal votes” in Bihar state, which goes to the polls later this year.
Priyanka joined Rahul at a protest on Tuesday (26) in Supaul, Bihar, alleging that the ruling coalition in Bihar, led by the BJP, had “lost the trust of the people” and was now “hatching a conspiracy to steal votes across the country.”
“The voting rights of millions of poor and deprived citizens are being snatched away. No power can take away this right given by the constitution. We will not allow even a single vote of the poor to be stolen,” she told supporters.
Gandhi has accused the ECI of refusing to share digital voter records, detailing what he said was a list of errors after his supporters spent weeks combing through vast piles of registration lists by hand.
Earlier this month, he claimed authorities manipulated voter rolls by adding fake names in the 2024 general election and other recent polls.
"There are serious discrepancies in the election system, and we will diligently keep exposing them,” Gandhi said.
The BJP and the Election Commission have both denied the rigging charges, which are rare in the world's most populous democracy of 1.42 billion people.
Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the ECI stood “rock solid” with all voters and would not bow to political pressure. He asked opposition leaders to either provide proof of fraud under oath or apologise to the nation.
Gandhi’s comments came ahead of a closely contested state election in Bihar.
“The Bihar election is looking very close, but we are rising and they are declining,” he said.
One of India's most politically important states, Bihar goes to polls by November. It is ruled by an alliance of prime minister Narendra Modi's BJP, but according to a recent survey by the VoteVibe agency, the opposition has an edge largely because of a lack of jobs.
Gandhi launched a month-long "voter rights" rally in the key battleground state of Bihar on August 17, receiving an enthusiastic public response.
India's top court stepped in last week, allowing a biometric ID most residents possess to be accepted in Bihar's voter registration.
The "Special Intensive Revision" (SIR) of voter registration is set to be replicated across India.
Gandhi called the exercise in Bihar the "final conspiracy".
Voter verification in Bihar is scheduled to be completed by September 25, with the final list released five days later.
"They aim to steal the elections by adding new voters under the guise of SIR and removing existing voters," Gandhi said.
The ECI has defended the registration revision, saying it is in part to avoid "foreign illegal immigrants" from voting.
Members of Modi's BJP have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India's electoral rolls.
(with inputs from PTI)
