NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday held a mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital, intensifying its campaign over alleged “vote chori” and the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. The protest, held under the banner “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod”, comes days after sharp exchanges between the government and the Opposition in Parliament over electoral integrity.Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday accused the government of undermining democratic institutions and questioned the conduct of elections, as she addressed the party’s ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhor’ rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital. Addressing a large gathering of party workers and supporters, Priyanka Gandhi said elections in the country were no longer being conducted fairly and that suspicion now surrounded every stage of the process. “Elections not being conducted properly, there is suspicion at every step,” she said, alleging systematic erosion of democratic norms. Recalling the constitutional vision of India, she stressed the centrality of the right to vote. “Our voice should reach the PM’s residence. It’s very important to understand that your vote plays an important role. Nehru ji said that the people of India, every single son and daughter of India, are all a part of Mother India. This very thought shaped our constitution. This Constitution gave you the right to vote,” Priyanka Gandhi said. She also alleged that constitutional bodies were being pressured to function in line with the government’s interests. “All institutions in country being made to bend before govt,” she said, while addressing the rally against what the Congress has termed “vote theft”. Priyanka Gandhi further accused the Election Commission of ignoring alleged violations during polls and questioned the integrity of the electoral process. “EC shutting its eyes to Rs 10,000 being paid during election process; is this poll not ‘vote chori’?” she asked, referring to alleged inducements during elections. She urged party workers not to be demoralised by electoral defeats, particularly in Bihar, claiming that outcomes were manipulated. “You should not lose heart over losing Bihar, entire country knows BJP wins through ‘vote theft’,” she said.”In the Parliament hardly there are one or two debates in a session.When Rahul ji raised the issue, Kharge ji raised the issue that we want to debate on the way votes are being stolen through the EVMs, they got scared. They didn’t agree. Finally, how did they agree? They said we will even discuss Vande Mataram…I challenge them to fight a fair election. Let them fight on the ballot paper, and they themselves know that they will never win. Today, you don’t need to be disappointed that you lost the Bihar election. Because the whole country is watching that they win through theft,” Priyanka said. The rally also follows Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks in Parliament, where he termed alleged vote theft as a serious threat to democracy, triggering a political confrontation with the ruling BJP.
Senior Congress leadership turns up
Several senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, attended the rally. Former party president Sonia Gandhi was also likely to be present. Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy joined the event as well.“Our party has organised the ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ rally at Ramlila Maidan. The Congress party has taken a step towards a decisive battle, and a large number of people will attend this rally,” Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel was quoted as saying by ANI.According to party sources, Congress units from multiple states mobilised supporters for the rally. A party spokesperson said 1,027 Congress leaders and activists set out from Jammu on Saturday, raising slogans of “vote chore, gaddi chhore” and “Delhi chalo” while travelling to the capital.
Workers mobilised from states
Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh said the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee made extensive preparations for the programme. Calling the rally historic, he said party leaders, workers and representatives from across Jharkhand had already reached Delhi in large numbers.
‘Lacking a neutral umpire,’ says K C Venugopal
Congress MP K C Venugopal on Saturday targeted the Election Commission of India, alleging institutional bias and warning of consequences for democracy.”We are lacking a neutral umpire in this country for conducting elections. This is actually very dangerous to democracy. That is why we are going completely for a campaign and movement. The five-crore signature has to be submitted to the President of India. We are seeking an appointment… In Parliament, we also discussed this vote chori issue. Our LoP has given straightforward suggestions. Not only criticising, but we are also providing clear suggestions…There are a lot of complaints about the machines, the EVMs. Lakhs of people will participate in that… This is an internal party program,” Venugopal was quoted as saying by ANI.Venugopal claimed the Congress has collected over five crore signatures nationwide to flag alleged vote theft. He alleged the presence of bogus and duplicate votes, said Rahul Gandhi’s press conferences had exposed irregularities benefiting the BJP, and accused the Election Commission of ignoring Congress complaints while acting against the party.
Kharge attacks BJP, alleges stolen mandates
Addressing the rally, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of misleading Parliament and alleged that electoral mandates had been stolen in multiple states.”Answering in Parliament is one thing, but they (Home Minister Amit Shah) did not answer our questions; they gave answers from their own minds. They provided incorrect information in Parliament. We had asked how and in what way votes were stolen, and Rahul Gandhi spoke about this with evidence… We want to tell the people that the governments in power in Anand, Maharashtra and Haryana have come to power by stealing votes… The people sitting in power today have not been elected by the people…”
Sachin Pilot questions Election Commission’s role
Congress leader Sachin Pilot said concerns over institutional fairness were being raised across the country. He said “Across the country today, this question has arisen that fairness and transparency are disappearing from institutions. The attitude adopted by the Election Commission is very unfortunate… The Election Commission should work with fairness and honesty, rising above leaders, ideologies, or parties, which they are not doing… The Election Commission is unable to answer… Unfortunately, when we ask questions to the Election Commission, the answers are given by BJP spokespersons.” “Today we are organising a mega rally in Delhi, where workers from across the country will gather and, becoming the voice of the people, will ask the question why the Election Commission is not working impartially?,” Pilot added.
BJP hits back
Reacting to the rally, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi accused the Congress of using abusive language and promoting disorder.“In the rally held at Ramlila Maidan by the anti-Ram Congress, abusive language and insults were once again used against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Videos have surfaced showing their workers once again chanting slogans wishing for Modi’s death. This shows that the Congress party is now becoming a platform for anarchy instead of a political party, operating under a Muslim League-Maoist agenda. You want to praise Rahul Gandhi? Go ahead. But the use of such abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has been done before, is utterly reprehensible. Although there is no comparison.” The rally marks a fresh escalation in the political battle between the Congress and the BJP, with electoral processes and the role of constitutional institutions now at the centre of the confrontation.BJP MP Sambit Patra said, “Today the Congress party is holding a rally against vote theft at Ramlila Maidan. It is being said that people are also coming from other states ruled by Congress. Surprisingly, even after the discussion in the House, the Congress party is holding this rally. This same Congress party had submitted an application in the House for a discussion on SIR. Everyone in the House expressed their thoughts, and the Union Home Minister also responded to them… A person who always wears a T-shirt gives a lecture on khadi that day… and from that, their true form is revealed, and they fabricated a story about SIR… They made up the entire story, and when the Home Minister gave point-by-point responses one by one… The Congress party heard about all the issues. When they won in Telangana, Himachal, Karnataka, there was no vote theft, but where the BJP won, there was vote theft… When the Home Minister mentioned infiltrators, that the Congress party is trying to protect the infiltrators, then they created a deadlock and walked out; this clearly shows that this rally against SIR that is happening is an effort by the Congress party to protect the infiltrators…” Go to Source
