New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi intensified his criticism of the BJP on Thursday, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power through what he described as “chunav chori.” The Congress leader said his party would present detailed evidence to young voters to prove their charges of large scale voting irregularities. His remarks followed serious accusations of voter fraud linked to last year’s Haryana assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters, Gandhi said the Congress has collected substantial material and will continue to highlight what it believes to be manipulated electoral processes. According to him, the BJP used fake votes to influence outcomes and “there will be no doubt” once the information is put before the public. The BJP dismissed his accusations and called them baseless.
Gandhi reiterated his claim that 25 lakh votes out of roughly two crore voters in Haryana were fraudulent. He argued that this amounted to one in every eight voters being fake. He also highlighted a controversial example where the photo of a Brazilian model appeared across multiple entries in the Haryana voter list. He questioned why the Election Commission had not responded to these concerns or explained how a foreign national’s picture could appear in voting records.
He accused the BJP leadership and the Election Commission of undermining constitutional principles by enabling practices that violate the “one person, one vote” norm. Gandhi warned that similar incidents could take place in Bihar, which is currently voting, and said such patterns had been seen in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Gujarat.
The BJP responded sharply. Party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari called Gandhi a danger to democratic values and accused him of intentionally spreading falsehoods to create distrust in the electoral system.
The “Brazilian angle” continues to draw attention. The woman whose photo appeared in the disputed voter list entries, hairdresser Larissa Nery, said she was shocked to see her image become part of a political controversy in another country. Her photograph is available as a free download on several stock image websites, which may explain how it was misused.
