Modi govt formed through stolen votes, alleges Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the current government was formed through “stolen votes” and urged people to choose a dispensation that is “truly yours, takes responsibility and is accountable to you”.

In a post on X, Gandhi shared a five-minute video of him conversing with the youth of Aurangabad in poll-bound Bihar during his ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ and said people must use the power of their votes to protect Mother India and the Constitution.

He asserted that a clean voter list is the cornerstone of free and fair elections and asked the people of Bihar not to let their voting rights slip away, as all their other rights rest on this very foundation.

Gandhi, who was accompanied by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, told the youngsters that their votes were being “stolen” and the names of living people were being struck off the electoral rolls by declaring them “dead”.

He also asked them about their thoughts on GST, demonetisation and what they would like to change in Bihar, to which the group said that it was the government. He also shared a message in Hindi, along with the clip, in which he said, “Dear voters of India, I want to ask you a straightforward question -- can a government formed by stealing votes ever have the intention of serving the public? No, right! They don't even need your votes, so they don't care about your problems either.”

PIL in SC seeks SIT probe into vote theft allegations

New Delhi, August 21

Amid clamour against SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, a PIL in the Supreme Court has sought a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a former judge into allegations of electoral roll manipulation levelled by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Bengaluru Central and other constituencies.

Filed by advocate Rohit Pandey, the petition urged the top court to stop further revision or finalisation of electoral rolls be undertaken by the Election Commission until an independent audit of the rolls was done and the court’s directions were complied with.

It also sought a direction to the poll panel to publish electoral rolls in accessible, machine-readable and OCR-compliant formats to enable meaningful verification, audit and public scrutiny. — TNS