Bihar BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for repeatedly highlighting alleged “vote chori” during the Bihar election campaign. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a debate on electoral reforms, Jaiswal said the Opposition’s focus on the SIR issue ended up benefiting the BJP-led NDA and urged them to continue the same strategy in West Bengal.
Jaiswal said the BJP would welcome the Opposition bringing up the SIR issue in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly election, due by March next year. According to him, the NDA plans to highlight concerns over “infiltrators being added to voter lists”, referring to alleged illegal additions of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in earlier years.
Alongside this, he said, the party would continue to target the Trinamool Congress government over what he called its failures.
‘Rahul Gandhi Only Spoke of Vote Chori’
Reflecting on the Bihar election, Jaiswal argued that Rahul Gandhi chose not to talk about two decades of NDA governance in the state. “In Bihar, he kept repeating ‘vote chori, SIR’ and similar slogans,” he remarked. “People were confused about who was facing this vote theft. They could not see it anywhere.”
The SIR exercise is now underway in West Bengal, following Bihar, along with 12 other states and Union Territories.
‘Bihar Is Done… Now It’s Bengal’s Turn’
Reiterating a slogan heard in Parliament a day earlier “Bihar toh hamara ho gaya, ab Bengal ki baari hai”, Jaiswal said the BJP is confident of expanding its footprint in the eastern state.
Drawing from former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s words, he added: “Darkness will fade, the sun will rise, and this time the lotus will bloom in Bengal.”
‘Opposition Should Learn How to Fight Elections’
Jaiswal also criticised the Opposition’s approach to campaigning. He claimed Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav spent 20 days on a “tourist trip” before the election and then left the country when the campaigning intensified.
In contrast, he said, BJP leaders work closely with ground-level workers. “With one call, I can get BJP workers from any state to help mine. That is the difference between you and us.”
When an Opposition MP mentioned the 2027 Uttar Pradesh election, Jaiswal retorted: “You are nowhere in UP, don’t worry about that!”
Jaiswal’s Attack Over ‘Vote Theft’ Allegations
Responding to accusations of vote manipulation, Jaiswal invoked history. He called the Congress’s decision in 1947 to choose Jawaharlal Nehru over Vallabhbhai Patel as India’s first Prime Minister “the first and biggest instance of vote chori”.
He further cited the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi from 1975 to 1977 as another example.
