BJP Hits Back at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chori’ Charge, Cites Congress’s Highest Vote Share in 35 Years

New Delhi: The political battle over the integrity of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections escalated on Monday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a fierce counterattack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s explosive allegation of “vote chori”. BJP leaders argued that far from losing votes, the Congress actually achieved its highest vote share in over three decades, dismissing Rahul’s claims as a deliberate attempt to discredit India’s democratic institutions.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya led the charge, tweeting: “Congress cries ‘vote chori’, but the fact is that the Congress+ vote share in 2024 is the highest in the last 35 years. Looks like no one told Rahul Gandhi.”

Congress, however, has doubled down on its charges. Rahul Gandhi, citing Election Commission (EC) data, alleged massive manipulation of voter rolls, accusing the poll body of acting in collusion with the ruling party. He claimed that duplicate names, fake voters, and large-scale deletions of opposition supporters’ names were carried out in states such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.

The Congress highlighted alleged irregularities in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency, claiming that over one lakh fake votes were added to secure a BJP victory. The party has framed this as a battle to “protect constitutional integrity” and restore the credibility of the Election Commission.

But the BJP swiftly struck back. National Spokesperson C.R. Kesavan accused Rahul Gandhi of manufacturing a false narrative, tweeting: “Rahul Gandhi is on a witch hunt tarnishing Constitutional institutions with his votes are being stolen slander. Can Rahul Gandhi explain why Congress party’s vote share has either remained the same or has increased? Hope Rahul Gandhi does not duck this question like the affidavit.”

Political analyst and BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari also tore into Rahul’s accusations, citing hard data to counter the charge:
“After the Supreme Court, even hard data exposed his claim. If ‘vote chori’ has happened, how has the Congress and its allies’ vote share increased from 39% to 41% since 1989?”

He went further, branding Rahul Gandhi as a habitual liar: “Rahul Gandhi is a serial liar. He lies consecutively, consciously to create distrust in the mind of Indian voter against Indian state.”

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has strongly rejected the allegations, calling them “misleading and baseless”. The poll body insisted that the voter roll preparation process is transparent and conducted with party participation at every stage. It has now asked Rahul Gandhi to submit a sworn affidavit with documentary evidence, cautioning that otherwise his charges would be dismissed outright.