08 August,2025 05:43 PM IST | Bengaluru | mid-day online correspondent
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge during the `Vote Adhikar Rally`, at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Friday. PIC/PTI
A day after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleged voter fraud, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday launched a scathing attack against Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging "vote theft".
Addressing the Congress' 'Vote Adhikar Rally' in Bengaluru's Freedom Park, Kharge claimed that the party had lost the 2019 General Elections due to 'fake votes', ANI reported.
"The current government is a government of theft. Modi is making this country cry with bogus votes. I had said this in 2019. In my entire life, I lost in the 2019 elections, I also lost because of bogus votes, which has now come to light," the veteran politician said.
Reiterating Gandhi's "vote theft" claim in Mahadevapura in Bengaluru Central, the Congress President claimed that the Election Commission works at the behest of PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He said, "In the elections held in Bengaluru, a legislative assembly has verified 6,60,000 votes. The last election was a betrayal election. Modi's attempt is that even if people do not vote, Modi and Amit Shah order the Election Commission to decide where to vote less and where to vote more. PM Modi has already intimidated the Congress and other parties and gained a majority."
He said that the BJP won the Maharashtra and Karnataka Assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections illegitimately.
"Earlier in Maharashtra, and in Karnataka, he has continued the same trick. Modi and company did not win the 2024 elections," he said.
He added that the INDIA bloc MPs will march to the Election Commission's office in Delhi on August 11.
"This government will not survive, we will make you shunned by the people. Not just to bring them down, we will teach them a lesson; they are ruining our country with bad economic policies. On Monday, all the MPs will walk to the Election Commission and appeal to the Commission in Delhi. We have called a meeting of the INDIA alliance leaders. We should all be united; otherwise, PM Modi would have come to power like this," Kharge stated.
Recalling Mahatma Gandhi's famous speech during the Quit India Movement, Kharge said, "Do or die to protect the Constitution."
"At that time, they did Quit India on August 9. In the same way, we are going to do or die to protect the Constitution. I thank Rahul Gandhi. He is working to create awareness among the people. He is ready for anything. Even though he has 40-50 cases against him, he is continuing his good work," the Congress leader further said.
Meanwhile, addressing the rally, Gandhi demanded that the EC provide immediately the voter lists and video recordings from the past 10 years.
"BJP's ideology is against the Constitution of India. Every Congress leader and worker will protect it...Election Commission of India should give us the voter lists and video recordings from the last 10 years, immediately," he said, adding that in Thursday's press conference, he had proved 100 per cent that the poll body and the BJP have committed theft of votes. Gandhi also said that a poll in Karnataka had indicated that the Congress would get 15-16 seats in the last Lok Sabha election.
"According to our polling, we were ahead in 16 seats. But we only won 9 seats, after which we started asking whether we really lost those seats. We sought help from the Election Commission. We asked for the voter list and CCTV footage, but they didn't help us at all. Then they changed the law regarding providing videos," he stated.
"We have protected the Constitution of India. The voices of Ambedkarji, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel echo in the Constitution of India. Basavana, Narayana Guru and Phule Ji voices echo from it. Our Constitution of India gives the right to every person to vote," Gandhi said.
(With ANI inputs)
