The History Hit: How BJP Shattered Congress’s ‘Vote Chori’ Claim Once And For All

‘Vote Chori’ has been Rahul Gandhi’s favourite buzzword — and by extension, the Congress party’s. After the first leg of his Vote Adhikar Yatra in Bihar — a state his party eventually lost — he declared, “The slogan ‘vote chor gaddi chor’ is resonating across the nation and spreading like fire because it’s the truth." From alleging 100,000 suspect votes in Bengaluru Central’s Mahadevapura seat to claiming 25 lakh “stolen" votes in Haryana in 2024, Gandhi held press conferences, launched yatras, and repeatedly invoked the term ‘Vote Chori’, often accusing the poll body of foul play. Numerous fact-checks by the ECI and counter-statements by leaders could not blunt what Gandhi was steadily building — a sense of doubt about electoral fairness.

So when the Congress-led Opposition proposed elec