New Delhi: The political temperature in the national capital reached a boiling point on Sunday as the Congress party intensified its “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” (Vote Thieves, Quit Power) campaign with a massive rally at the historic Ramlila Maidan. In a marked escalation of rhetoric, the Opposition launched its most severe attack yet on the Union Government and the Election Commission of India (ECI), centring on allegations of systemic electoral fraud. The focal point of the event was a fiery address by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who branded the ruling dispensation as “traitors” (gaddars) and called for their removal from power.
Kharge’s War Cry: ‘They Are Sitting in Power Through Theft’
Addressing the sea of supporters, Mallikarjun Kharge launched a direct assault on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He alleged that the current government did not secure its position through a legitimate popular mandate but through electoral manipulation.
“The leaders of the BJP only do drama,” Kharge declared, pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi often travels abroad during parliamentary sessions rather than engaging with the House. Escalating his attack, Kharge stated, “They are all sitting in power after doing vote chori; we will have to remove these traitors (gaddars) from power”. This framing of the ruling party not just as political opponents but as “traitors” to the democratic process marks a significant shift in the Congress party’s strategy, moving the debate from policy failures to the very legitimacy of the government.
Rahul Gandhi: Vote Theft as an ‘Anti-National’ Act
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, reinforced Kharge’s sentiments by framing electoral manipulation as an attack on the nation itself. Speaking in Parliament and reiterated at the rally, Gandhi asserted that “the biggest anti-national act you can do is vote chori; when you destroy the vote, you destroy the idea of India”.
Gandhi accused the institutions tasked with safeguarding democracy of capitulating to executive power. He alleged “institutional capture” of the Election Commission, claiming it is “colluding with those in power to shape elections”. He posed three sharp questions to the government: Why was the Chief Justice of India removed from the panel selecting Election Commissioners? Why was the law regarding CCTV footage preservation changed? And why were Election Commissioners granted immunity?.
The ‘Midnight Mystery’ and Statistical Anomalies
The rally drew heavily on data compiled by civil society groups, such as Vote for Democracy (VFD), which highlights alleged irregularities in the recent Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections. The Opposition flagged a “Midnight Mystery” in Maharashtra, where voter turnout reportedly jumped by 7.83% after polling officially closed at 5:00 PM—a surge involving approximately 65 lakh votes,.
Furthermore, the Congress highlighted inexplicable surges in voter registration. They pointed to the addition of over 48 lakh new voters in Maharashtra in the six months between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections,. Specifically, Rahul Gandhi targeted the constituency of Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis (Nagpur South West), where 29,219 voters were added in just six months—an increase of 8.25%, which is double the standard verification threshold.
Simultaneously, the Opposition raised alarms regarding the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) in Bihar, where approximately 65 lakh voters—over 8% of the electorate—have been identified for deletion under categories such as “deceased” or “permanently shifted”,. The Congress argues this disproportionately impacts marginalised communities.
‘Modi’s Grave Will Be Dug’: BJP Strikes Back
The BJP responded aggressively, focusing on slogans raised by Congress workers at the rally. Videos circulated by BJP leaders, including Shehzad Poonawalla and Sudhanshu Trivedi, purportedly showed Congress cadres chanting “Modi teri kabr khudegi” (Modi, your grave will be dug).
The BJP termed the Congress’s “Vote Theft” narrative a smokescreen for a more sinister agenda. “The real agenda is clear… they want to eliminate PM Modi,” claimed BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla. In Parliament, Union Minister J.P. Nadda condemned the slogans, demanding an apology from Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, stating that such rhetoric had “lowered the level of political discourse beyond imagination”. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju added that while they are political opponents, they are not enemies, and such threats against a sitting Prime Minister were “most unfortunate”.
A Rift in the Alliance?
Despite the show of strength in Delhi, fissures have appeared within the Opposition bloc regarding this specific campaign. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah publicly distanced the wider INDIA coalition from the Congress’s narrative. He stated, “The INDIA bloc has got nothing to do with it… The Congress has made ‘vote chori’ and SIR its main issues. Who are we to tell them otherwise?”.
Conclusion
The rally at Ramlila Maidan signals a turbulent phase in Indian politics. With the Congress claiming to have collected five crore signatures against “vote theft” to submit to the President, and the BJP framing the Opposition as anarchists threatening the Prime Minister’s life, the battle over the credibility of Indian elections is set to intensify. Kharge’s use of the label “gaddar” and Rahul Gandhi’s demand for the “architecture of EVMs” suggest that the Opposition will make electoral integrity a central plank of their future political campaigns.