The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday strongly countered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s renewed claims of “election chori,” accusing him of using the allegations as a tool to justify his leadership and the Congress party’s continued electoral setbacks.
Amit Malviya, who heads the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, said the Congress leader’s remarks had little to do with the Election Commission and more with his “political survival.”
“The first thing to understand is why Rahul Gandhi is suddenly talking about ‘vote chori.’ This has nothing to do with the Election Commission, it’s about his political survival. He wants to convince his own party that he is not responsible for Congress’s repeated defeats,” Malviya said.
The BJP leader claimed that dissent within the Congress ranks had been growing as Rahul Gandhi failed to lead the party to major electoral victories in recent years.
Malviya also took a swipe at Gandhi’s rhetoric through a poetic Urdu couplet that, when translated, reads: “Don’t talk about insignificant issues. Tell me why the caravan was looted. I have no complaint against the secrets; it’s about your leadership.”
He further criticised the timing of Gandhi’s latest remarks, arguing that the Congress leader consistently blames external factors for the party’s losses.
“According to him, it’s not weak leadership or poor strategy, it’s always ‘vote chori.’ He knows the day Congress realises he can’t win elections, they’ll start looking for someone who can. After all, no one follows a leader who only delivers defeats,” Malviya wrote on X.
Malviya alleged that Rahul Gandhi had shifted blame after every major electoral defeat since 2014. “In 2014, he blamed Congress’s weaknesses. Later, he accused Modi of using the ED, CBI, and Income Tax. Then came the EVM excuse. Now, he blames the Election Commission,” he said.
The BJP leader claimed that the Congress’s optimism following the BJP’s reduced tally of 240 seats in the Lok Sabha had waned after subsequent losses in Maharashtra and Haryana. “If Bihar goes the same way, which it will, Rahul’s leadership will once again be questioned. That’s why he must keep repeating — he doesn’t lose, someone makes him lose,” Malviya added.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his allegations against the Election Commission and the BJP, claiming neither had responded to the “serious charges” he presented at a recent press conference.
“I demonstrated in my presentation that the Haryana elections were not elections in the true sense. There was wholesale theft of votes,” Gandhi told IANS.
He further alleged large-scale irregularities in the voting process. “Please note, there has been no response to my allegations of fake votes, fake voter photographs, and impersonation. The BJP is defending the Election Commission, but none of my claims have been denied,” Gandhi asserted.
