The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday strongly reacted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s press conferencealleging “vote chori” in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections, dismissing his claims as misleading and politically motivated. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and other party leaders criticized Gandhi for raising what they called irrelevant issues ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.

BJP Leaders Respond

Kiren Rijiju alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s press briefing was part of a diversionary tactic, aimed at shifting attention from Congress’ poor electoral prospects. Rijiju pointed to Gandhi’s use of a foreign woman’s photograph in the presentation, saying she had reprimanded Congress for misusing her image.

“It clearly shows there is nothing left for him in Bihar, so to divert attention, he is now bringing up the issue of Haryana,” Rijiju said.

The Union minister further alleged that Gandhi’s overseas trips, including visits to Cambodia, Thailand, and Colombia, were used to bring back ideas that his team turned into “baseless narratives”. He called on politicians to focus on serious issues rather than futile matters.

Rijiju also claimed that Gandhi’s attempt to mobilize Gen Z would fail, asserting that India’s youth support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Rahul Gandhi says that the atom bomb is going to explode, but why doesn’t his atom bomb ever explode? He doesn’t take any subject seriously and even says that a hydrogen bomb will explode,” Rijiju added.

BJP spokesperson Radhika Khera took a dig at Gandhi’s criticism of the “Brazilian model” in voter registration, highlighting that an “Italian woman”—apparently referring to Sonia Gandhi—also voted in India.

“A vote was also cast in Hindustan by an ‘Italian’ woman. Do you know her name??” Khera wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

Rahul Gandhi, in his press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, presented what he called “The H Files”, alleging large-scale voter fraud in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections, which the BJP won.

Key points of Gandhi’s claim:

• Haryana allegedly had 25 lakh fake voters, including a woman he described as a Brazilian model, whose photo was allegedly used multiple times for voter registration.
• Gandhi alleged instances of multiple voting, including one photo used for 223 votes and another individual voting 22 times across 10 booths.
• He claimed that 12.5% of voters in Haryana were fake, pointing out that the BJP’s margin of victory in eight constituencies was around 22,000 votes—far smaller than the alleged number of fake votes.
• Gandhi urged Gen-Z to take these claims seriously, asserting that their future was at stake.

Haryana has 90 assembly seats, of which the BJP won 48 to form the government for a third consecutive term, while Congress fell short by eight seats, securing 37 seats despite favorable exit polls.

Political Context

The press conference comes just days before the Bihar assembly elections, where Congress faces stiff competition from the BJP-led NDA. BJP leaders dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as political gamesmanship, claiming they were designed to divert public attention and create controversy rather than address substantive issues.