Congress kicks off signature drive against ‘vote theft’

The Himachal Congress kicked off a statewide ‘Vote Chor Gaddi Chod’ signature campaign in Shimla today. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, state Congress president Pratibha Singh and other senior party leaders were the first to put their signatures against the alleged theft of votes.

The Chief Minister, while addressing a press conference, exhorted people to come together to save democracy. He alleged that the BJP had come to power in Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka by stealing votes. He added that the signature campaign was a public awareness campaign against the BJP.

Pratibha said that while Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, AICC spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Rathore would oversee the campaign. MLAs had also been assigned the responsibility of completing the signature campaign in their districts. “The campaign will prove to be an important step for the Congress in alignment with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s call to protect democracy and stop the BJP’s vote theft,” she added.

Agnihotri said that the signature campaign would be conducted in districts, blocks and villages and everyone would be involved.

“The Congress stands united to strengthen Rahul Gandhi’s voice and protect the public’s verdict in the country,” he added. Rathore said that all-out efforts would be made to collect a maximum number of signatures during the campaign.