'Fight elections fairly, you can’t win': Priyanka Gandhi attacks BJP, questions EC at Delhi rally - Top quotes

Priyanka Gandhi

The Congress on Sunday held a mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, intensifying its campaign against the BJP over alleged “vote chori” and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Held under the banner “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod”, the rally came days after sharp exchanges between the government and the Opposition in Parliament over electoral integrity.

Addressing the gathering, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge launched a scathing attack on the BJP, accusing it of undermining the Constitution and the right to vote. Calling those involved in alleged vote theft “gaddars”, Kharge said such forces must be removed from power to protect democracy. He also claimed that RSS ideology would “finish the nation” and said only the Congress could safeguard India’s constitutional values, according to PTI.

Kharge said he chose to attend the rally despite a medical emergency in his family, stating that saving the rights of “140 crore people” was more important.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the BJP had lost the trust of the people and challenged the ruling party to fight elections fairly. “Fight elections fairly, run on the ballot, then they also know that they cannot win,” she said, alleging that recent electoral victories were achieved through manipulation, ANI reported.

Priyanka Gandhi accused the government of weakening democratic institutions and claimed elections were no longer being conducted transparently. She said suspicion now surrounded every stage of the electoral process and alleged that constitutional bodies, including the Election Commission, were under pressure to act in the government’s favour.

She also criticised the functioning of Parliament, saying key public issues such as unemployment, inflation and paper leaks were being sidelined. According to her, discussions on alleged vote theft and SIR were taken up only after sustained pressure from Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Senior Congress leaders, including K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Sachin Pilot and Sachin Pilot attended the rally, with party units mobilising supporters from several states. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was also present. Congress leaders described the rally as a decisive step in a larger political movement against alleged electoral irregularities.

Congress MP K C Venugopal accused the Election Commission of lacking neutrality and warned that such a situation posed a serious threat to democracy. He claimed the party had collected over five crore signatures nationwide to highlight alleged vote theft and planned to submit them to the President, ANI reported.

Sachin Pilot echoed concerns over institutional fairness, alleging that the Election Commission was failing to act impartially and that questions raised by the Opposition were being answered instead by BJP spokespersons.

BJP hits back

BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi accused the Congress of spreading misinformation, using abusive language and creating 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.”

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..."