Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday strongly criticized Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for alleging widespread “vote theft” and discrepancies in the electoral lists in Haryana.
Speaking to reporters in Panchkula, CM Saini accused the Congress leader of trying to mislead the nation with falsehoods. While initially declining to comment, Saini later stated:
“But Rahul Gandhi is trying to mislead the country. The Congress always worked towards pushing the country back.”
CM Saini claimed that the Congress and its “yuvraj” (prince, a term often used for Rahul Gandhi) were left with no credible issues. He added, “They (Congress) are misleading the country by speaking lies. People will not join you by spreading such falsehoods.” He further attacked the Congress’s legacy:
“You (Rahul Gandhi) are lying. Your four generations ruled the country. Even if after the rule by four generations, the Congress and Rahul Gandhi Baba speak lies, then it is unfortunate.”
Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations
During a press conference on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi made significant allegations, citing electoral data to claim that the Haryana electoral rolls contained approximately 25 lakh “fake” or invalid voters out of a total electorate of about two crore. This translates to about 12.5% of the voters being invalid, according to Gandhi.
He provided a breakdown of the alleged discrepancies:
- 5.21 lakh duplicate voters.
- 93,174 invalid voters.
- 19.26 lakh bulk voters.
Gandhi claimed that the Congress lost the Haryana election last year by a narrow margin of just 22,000 votes, labelling the outcome a “theft of democracy.” He presented the example of a single photo—reportedly a Brazilian model’s stock image—that he alleged was used for 223 different votes.
The Congress leader also played a video clip of CM Nayab Singh Saini, suggesting that the Chief Minister was aware of the “vote theft” before the elections, and pointed to the smile and the “vyavastha” (system) Saini mentioned in the clip as evidence.
The Response from the Ruling Party and Election Officials
The BJP has vehemently dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of mass vote theft as “false and baseless.” The party accused the Congress leader of attempting to raise doubts about the Election Commission to distract from the Congress’s own electoral shortcomings.
Meanwhile, unidentified officials from the Election Commission have also reportedly stated that Gandhi’s charge of vote manipulation is “unfounded,” noting that no appeals were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana, nor was any multiple voting flagged.