NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a broadside against the Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming that every sixth parliamentarian out of the BJP’s 240 MPs has won through vote theft.In a social media post on X, Rahul accused the BJP of keeping institutions in its pocket.”Votes are stolen to nick seats sometimes, and sometimes entire governments. Out of the 240 BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha, roughly every sixth MP has won through vote theft. Not hard to spot them – should we call them ‘infiltrators’ in BJP lingo? And Haryana? There, the entire government is infiltrator,” Rahul said. “The institutions they keep in their pocket, the ones that tamper with voter lists and the electoral process – those are ‘remote-controlled’ themselves. Their real fear is the truth. Because if fair elections were held, they couldn’t even win 140 seats today,” he added.Rahul Gandhi’s reference to “theft of mandate” appeared to echo allegations raised by Mamata Banerjee, who claimed that “more than 100 seats were stolen” in the state, a charge the BJP has dismissed.Earlier, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the BJP “looted” more than 100 seats and termed the Election Commission “the BJP’s commission,” calling the victory “immoral” and “illegal.” This comes a day after Rahul cautioned party colleagues and other oppostion leaders against celebrating the Trinamool Congress’s defeat in West Bengal and framed the election outcome as a larger threat to Indian democracy.Without taking names, Rahul Gandhi said, “Some in the Congress, and others, are gloating about TMC’s loss. They need to understand this clearly: the theft of Assam and Bengal’s mandate is a big step forward by the BJP in its mission to destroy Indian democracy.”He urged political parties to move beyond electoral rivalries, adding, “Put petty politics aside. This is not about one party or another. This is about India.”
