Congress holds rally in Delhi, alleges poll manipulation; BJP hits back

New Delhi, Dec 14: The Congress on Sunday held a major rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, accusing the government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) of colluding to manipulate elections, an allegation strongly denied by the BJP.

The rally, titled ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’, saw the participation of the party’s entire top leadership, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and senior leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also addressed the gathering.

Addressing the rally, Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the Election Commission, naming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

“We will stand with satya (truth) and remove the Narendra Modi-RSS government from power. They have satta (power) and indulge in vote chori,” he said.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra challenged the BJP to contest elections using ballot papers, claiming the party would not win under such a system.

“The entire country knows the BJP wins through vote theft,” she said, alleging that institutions were being crushed and the Election Commission was turning a blind eye to alleged violations. Naming the top election officials, she said they would one day have to answer how people’s voting rights were “taken away”.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP of undermining the Constitution and democracy.

Those indulging in vote theft were “gaddars” and “dramebaaz”, he said, adding that they must be removed from power to protect voting rights.

Sachin Pilot alleged that tWWhe Modi government was “hollowing out” institutions built over decades and warned that questions over the neutrality of the Election Commission were going unanswered.

Calling the rally the beginning of a long fight, he said democracy could not survive if institutions were misused to win elections.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP of weakening democracy by forming governments through vote theft.

He said the Congress had both won and lost elections in the past while safeguarding the power of the people’s vote, PTI reported.

Congress units from several states mobilised supporters for the rally.

A party spokesperson said over 1,000 Congress leaders and workers travelled from Jammu to Delhi, raising slogans of “vote chori” and “Delhi chalo”.

Venugopal claimed the ECI ignored Congress complaints while acting against the party, and alleged the presence of bogus and duplicate votes, ANI reported.

Reacting to the rally, the BJP hit back sharply. BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi accused the Congress of using abusive language and promoting disorder, alleging that slogans targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi were raised at the event.

BJP MP Sambit Patra dismissed the allegations of vote theft, saying the Congress cried foul only when it lost elections, while remaining silent where it won.