BJP bigwigs to rebut Rahul’s ‘vote-theft' charge

Stung by the ‘vote chori’ allegations by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the ruling BJP is putting in place a multi-pronged strategy to rebut the Congress charge of alleged vote fraud during the 2024 state Assembly polls.

While senior party leaders in New Delhi and across the state have been tasked with putting up a spirited defence against the Congress’ allegations through the traditional media, and digital and social media, the party cadre will also be asked to counter the charges at the grassroots level.

Former CM and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar today launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, terming the allegations as diversionary tactics since the Congress leader was not ‘competent’ to lead his party and fight elections.

Sources said the BJP would utilise large gatherings on the occasion of the 150 years of celebrations of National Song 'Vande Matram' from November 7 to 26 to mobile the public against Congress ‘propaganda’. “If need be, we will utilise our well-knit organisational structure to expose the Congress’s vicious campaign against the BJP and the Election Commission,” a senior leader said.

At a press conference yesterday, Rahul Gandhi claimed his team had proof that around 25 lakh voters in the state were either duplicate, non-existent or manipulated in the Assembly polls, facilitating BJP's unbelievable third win in a row.

The Congress leader’s allegations came a day before the high-stakes Bihar polls, even as the Congress announced a statewide agitation against the alleged malpractices in the 2024 elections.

Brazilian 'model' dismisses it as 'comedy'

The Brazilian ‘model’ at the epicenter of the ‘vote chori’ controversy, is reportedly not a model. Larissa Nery is a hairdresser, who reportedly runs a salon at Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Brazil’s second-largest state—Minas Gerais. “I think all of this is a comedy,” she reportedly told Luiz Fernando Menezes of the Brazilian news agency Aos Fatos. In an Instagram story, Larissa, who has never visited India, shared a clip from Rahul Gandhi’s press conference with a caption in Portuguese saying “Guys, how crazy, I am famous in India as a mysterious Brazilian model.”