Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) alleged that stealing of votes started from the Gujarat Assembly election in 2012, and it continued at the national level in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister for the first time.
Mr. Gandhi said that a few years ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave a statement, not once but many times, that the BJP government would remain in power for 40-50 years.
“I was thinking how can this person say this, how does he know that the BJP government will run for 40-50 years. What happens in the hearts of the public only they know. It was a strange statement. Now the truth has come out in front of the whole country. He can say this because they steal votes,” Mr. Gandhi said during the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Madhubani in Bihar. He was accompanied by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashiwi Yadav, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) Chief Mukesh Sahani and Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation [CPI (ML)] general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.
He further said, “The vote theft has been happening for years and it started in Gujarat first, then came to the national level in 2014, after that these people decide which party wins in which State. The Prime Minister decides who will become the Election Commissioner.”
‘When caught, thief goes silent’
Mr. Gandhi pointed out that not a single BJP leader made a statement at his press conference regarding vote theft. “Modi ji did not say a word; Amit Shah did not say a word. When caught, the thief goes completely silent,” he said.
He also said that the Opposition INDIA bloc has shown power and now the Election Commission, PM Modi and the BJP would think twice before stealing votes.
The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was joined by her sister and Lok Sabha member Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the third leg of ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ which resumed from Supaul in Bihar.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud also joined the Yatra.
Ms. Vadra expressed happiness over the impressive crowd gathered to take part in the Yatra against the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by Election Commission of India.
Don’t allow vote theft: Priyanka
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ms. Vadra posted a message on X saying, “The BJP, which has lost the trust of the people, is hatching conspiracies to steal votes across the country. In Bihar, the BJP-JD(U) government, which has failed on every front including inflation, unemployment, migration, and economic crisis, wants to remain in power by stealing the votes of people.”
Joining the Yatra in Bihar for the first time, she further said, “The voting rights of millions of poor and deprived citizens are being snatched away. The Constitution has given every Indian the right to vote. No power can snatch this right. We will not allow even a single vote of the poor people to be stolen.”
Later when the Yatra reached Darbhanga, she spoke there too, this time attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Narendra Modi had said during the Lok Sabha elections: the Congress will steal your buffalo. But Narendra Modi himself is stealing your vote. Voting is the foundation of India’s democracy; it is your most precious right. The Modi government has stolen your employment and your PSUs. This is the last attempt, do not let them steal your vote,” Ms. Vadra said.
‘Identity and foundation’
She added that vote is identity and the foundation of citizenship.
“If you allow your vote to be stolen, you will have no identity left. All your rights will be taken away, and your citizenship will be taken away. Therefore, be vigilant and do not allow your rights to be stolen,” Ms. Vadra said.
RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha and Congress’s Randeep Singh Surjewala held a press conference in Madhubani, where they jointly criticised the SIR.
Mr. Surjewala said that Mr. Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ is the beginning of a new revolution.
Attacking the EC, Mr. Jha said that Chief Election Commissioner has now perhaps become an astrologer too because even before the revision, he predicted that 20% votes would be cut.
In a programme in Patna, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that only Indians have the right to vote and those who stole the votes of the poor with guns and bombs are roaming around with the book of the Constitution.
Published – August 26, 2025 07:01 pm IST