Launching what he called “The H Files”, Gandhi said the Election Commission was “working at the behest of the ruling BJP to steal votes”.
Speaking at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, he declared, “We are pretty sure that a plan was put in motion to convert Congress’ landslide victory into a loss. I want the young people, Gen Z of India, to understand this clearly because this is about your future. I am questioning the EC and the democratic process in India — and I am doing it with 100% proof.”
Citing electoral data, Gandhi claimed that 25 lakh “fake” or invalid voters had been listed in Haryana, which has a total electorate of about two crore. “That means one in every eight voters is fake — 12.5%. This includes 5.21 lakh duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid voters, and 19.26 lakh bulk voters,” he said.
He claimed the Congress lost the Haryana election by just 22,000 votes, calling it a “theft of democracy”. “In one instance, a single photo was used for 223 votes,” he alleged, holding up the example of the Brazilian model’s stock image as evidence.
Gandhi also referred to Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini, remarking, “Please notice the smile on his face and the ‘vyavastha’ he talks about. This was two days after the election when everyone was saying Congress was sweeping the polls.”
The Election Commission, responding even as Gandhi’s press conference was underway, rejected his claims. Officials said there had been no appeals against the electoral rolls in Haryana and questioned why Congress polling agents did not raise objections at booths if they suspected false voting. “What were the agents of Congress doing at the polling stations?” an EC official asked.
The official also challenged Gandhi’s position on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls - a process the Congress has opposed. “Is Rahul Gandhi now supporting the SIR, which removes duplicate, dead and shifted voters along with verification of citizenship, or is he opposing it?” the official said.
This was Gandhi’s third press conference on alleged voter manipulation. In earlier ones, he had accused the EC of mass voter deletions and additions, promising to unveil what he described as a “hydrogen bomb” of proof on “vote chori”.