The Election Commission of India (ECI) rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations of 'vote chori (theft)' during the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections. The ECI questioned the grand old party as to why none of its agents raised objections during voting. The poll body said that the objections raised by the Congress MP should have been flagged immediately.
"If someone allegedly voted more than 200 times in two booths, why was no objection raised by the polling agent of the Congress?" Election Commission sources said, as reported by News18.
The sources further clarified that after finalising voter lists, copies were sent to all political parties in the state, which gave them the opportunity to flag discrepancies and lodge an appeal.
“After the voter list was finalised, a copy of it was given to all parties. Why were the issues of duplicate names not flagged? Why was no appeal made?" the sources added.
The sources noted that 22 election petitions are currently pending before the High Court regarding the Haryana polls.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi, during a press conference, alleged that 25 fake votes were polled in the 2024 Haryana assembly polls. He claimed that a woman appeared 223 times in two polling booths.
"Here's a polling list of Haryana...This is a list of two polling booths. A woman appears 223 times in two polling booths; she can vote any number of times she wants. Election Commission needs to tell us how many times this lady (voted)," he said.
Gandhi also alleged that a Brazilian model voted 22 times in the state assembly polls.
"Congress lost the election by 22,000 votes...Who is this lady?...She votes 22 times in Haryana, in 10 different booths in Haryana. She has multiple names...That means this is a centralised operation...The lady is a Brazilian model. That's a stock photograph," the Lok Sabha LoP stated.
In the 2024 Haryana assembly polls, the BJP had bagged 48 seats, while the Congress remained victorious in constituencies.
