Rahul Gandhi Claims ‘Operation Sarkar Chori’ Rigged Haryana Elections

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday (November 5, 2025), alleged a major case of vote theft in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections. He accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of working hand in hand with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and top government leaders to “destroy Indian democracy.”

According to Gandhi, a centralised operation called “Operation Sarkar Chori” was launched to prevent the Congress from forming the government in Haryana. He said that even though every exit poll and opinion poll had predicted a Congress landslide, the party lost due to what he described as “systematic manipulation.”

Alleged Fake Voters and Duplicate Photos

To support his claim, Rahul Gandhi presented evidence showing how 22 voters across 10 polling booths had the same photograph of a Brazilian model. He further claimed that nearly 25 lakh fake voters were added to the voters’ list to sway the election results in favour of the BJP.

He pointed out that in several constituencies, multiple votes were registered under the same address, and in one case, over 500 votes were listed under a single house number. Gandhi said, “The system of vote theft has been industrialised, and we are sure they plan to repeat this in Bihar too.”

Taking on the Election Commission

Rahul Gandhi also criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s explanation that “house number 0” was meant for homeless people. He countered by showing a picture of a two-storeyed house listed as house number 0 in the voters’ record. “We physically verified it. This is not a house of a homeless person,” he said.

He also invited journalists to investigate the voter list themselves. In a rare move, Gandhi encouraged reporters to identify discrepancies, stating that “this democracy belongs to the citizens, not to the Election Commission or Narendra Modi.”

Congress Lost by Narrow Margin

Gandhi highlighted that the Congress lost the Haryana election by a narrow margin of just 1.18 lakh votes. He further said that 22,000 votes across eight constituencies made all the difference between victory and defeat.

“The BJP’s ‘vyavasta’ (arrangements) worked as planned,” Gandhi remarked, referring to a video of Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, who had earlier said that the BJP had all the “arrangements” in place to win the election.

Linking Past Allegations

This was not the first time Rahul Gandhi raised concerns about electoral manipulation. In August 2024, he had claimed that over one lakh votes were stolen in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission, however, dismissed those allegations as “incorrect and baseless.”

The ECI had then clarified that no deletion or addition of votes can take place without giving the concerned person a fair opportunity to be heard.

Gandhi’s Call to Youth and Citizens

In his latest address, Rahul Gandhi appealed to Gen Z voters and young citizens to “protect Indian democracy.” He said that people must not remain silent when institutions meant to ensure free and fair elections fail to do so. “This democracy belongs to you, not to the Election Commission or to Narendra Modi,” he emphasized.

He ended the press conference urging young voters to stay alert and informed before the upcoming Bihar elections, hinting that similar irregularities could occur there as well.

What Lies Ahead

The Congress is reportedly exploring legal options to challenge the Haryana election results. Rahul Gandhi stated, “The Supreme Court is watching. We are not doing this behind closed doors.”

As the political storm builds, the debate over transparency in India’s electoral process is likely to intensify. Whether the alleged “vote theft in Haryana” will be formally investigated remains to be seen, but the controversy has already reignited discussions about the integrity of India’s democratic institutions.