The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday tore into Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the Election Commission of India (ECI) published the final voter roll for Bihar following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Taking a dig at Gandhi over his 'vote theft' allegations, BJP questioned the lack of an official complaint by the Congress leader and his party against the SIR in Bihar.
Amit Malviya, senior BJP leader and the head of the party's IT wing, has flagged that the Congress did not file a single complaint or objection with the poll body for the inclusion or deletion of any name from the voter list.
"As the Election Commission concludes the SIR exercise in Bihar and publishes the final voter roll, let it be noted - the Congress party did not file a single complaint or objection, in the prescribed format, for either inclusion or deletion," he said in a post on X.
"This exposes Rahul Gandhi's disingenuous politics. His Yatra wasn't about democracy; it was about misleading people and shielding illegal migrants. A direct threat to India's national security," Malviya said, referring to Gandhi's Voter Adhikar Yatra in poll-bound Bihar.
"This so-called 'Vote Chori' narrative is nothing but a sham - a pretext to mask impending electoral defeats and undermine India's faith in the democratic process. A page straight out of George Soros's playbook, which Rahul Gandhi foolishly believes can resurrect his beleaguered party," the BJP leader said.
Taking a dig at Gandhi for his “spit and run" politics, BJP’s national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said spreading propaganda had become the Congress leader’s SOP. “SIR exercise completed in Bihar with deletion of 68.6 Lac names due to death, migration & duplication! >No official complaint by Congress in prescribed format during the exercise. >No affidavit on oath by Rahul Gandhi regarding his “allegations". Spit & Run, Spread Propaganda has become Rahul Gandhi’s SOP," Shergill added.
However, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari questioned the poll body about the deleted voters. "Who are these 47 Lakh Voters who have been deleted from the Final electoral roll in Bihar? @ECISVEEP must break it down into those who have shifted to other states, those who are dead and ghost voters on the rolls. It is this level of granularity of process that is essential for @ECISVEEP to attempt to commence the process of redeeming its absent credibility," he said on X.
On Tuesday, the poll body published the final voters’ list for the Bihar assembly elections. According to data available, a total of 48 lakh ineligible voters have been removed from the final electoral roll, while 21 lakh eligible voters were added to the list. A total of 7.41 crore voters are now eligible to cast their ballot in the upcoming assembly elections. The final voter list comes after the conclusion of SIR, which was held after a gap of 22 years.
Vote theft row
Rahul Gandhi has been at the forefront of the Congress’ ‘Vote Chori’ campaign and the party alleges that the Election Commission (EC) and BJP are colluding in the rigging of electoral rolls.
On August 7, Gandhi, taking the example of some Lok Sabha constituencies, claimed before the media that an analysis of the voter data showed that the Election Commission had rigged polls at the BJP’s behest to help the party win in the 2024 general elections.
Along with INDIA bloc leaders, Gandhi also embarked on a ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ to protest against the 'vote chori'.
At the heart of the Congress and opposition protest is the argument that the SIR exercise was not a genuine clean-up of rolls but a process weaponised for electoral gains. The party alleges that the move will disenfranchise real voters, especially Dalits, OBCs, minorities, and migrant workers, who are less likely to have the specific documents establishing proof of citizenship.
Last week, Gandhi said “mini-hydrogen, hydrogen, uranium and plutonium bombs" are being readied for further exposing ‘Vote Chori’ in Bihar.
(With inputs from agencies)
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