Priyanka Gandhi accused the BJP of 'vote chori' (vote theft) at a Delhi rally, challenging them to fight elections fairly on ballots. She claimed the BJP won the Bihar polls dishonestly and has lost the people's trust.
Priyanka Gandhi levels 'vote chori' charge, dares BJP to 'fight fairly'
Alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost the trust of the people, Congress leader and Wayand MP Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday challenged the party to "fight elections fairly" as she raised the "vote chori" charge once again during a party rally at Delhi's Ramleela Maidan.
"If they (BJP) have to fight an election fairly, I will give them the challenge, fight an election fairly, run on the ballot, then they also know that they cannot win. Today you don't have to get sad in losing the Bihar elections, because the whole country is watching that this was won through chori (theft)," Priyanka Gandhi said at the party's 'Vote chor, Gaddi Chhod' rally.
'BJP's self-confidence has been reduced'
She further alleged that the BJP also realises that people's trust has been lost, as seen in the way they avoid Opposition MPs and do not meet their gaze in the halls of Parliament. "I can see in the Parliament, their (BJP's) self-confidence has been reduced, they cannot meet our eyes, if they go beside us then they bow their heads down without looking at us. Self-confidence has been reduced because the people do not believe in the BJP, their government, PM Modi, Amit Shah, and the people have lost their trust in them," she said.
'Govt afraid to discuss real issues in Parliament'
The Congress leader further criticised the functioning of Parliament, claiming that the government is afraid to raise the real issues plaguing the people and instead chose to discuss the origins of Vande Mataram. "Only after Rahul Gandhi pressured the government to discuss SIR and elections did the BJP relent," Priyanka Gandhi said.
"Today, if you see in Parliament, barely any issues are discussed, and when Rahul asked that they wanted to discuss the SIR, in elections, and the way vote chori is happening, then they got scared, did not agree. Only at the end did they agree that we would discuss Vande Mataram too. At the end, we could only discuss to whom the national song belongs to, how it was made, and why it was made. But the bigger problems, unemployment, inflation, paper leak, they do not have the guts to discuss that," she added.
'Judiciary under pressure, media bought'
Attacking the government further, Priyanka said that the judicial system has been put under pressure, billionaires own media companies, and that Congress has been relentlessly targeted under the guise of anti-corruption measures. She recalled the 2024 general elections and the conditions under which the party fought. "Today, the judiciary is under pressure. The people standing here are all desperate; the media is bought by Adani or Ambani. Today, the situation is such that in the last elections, politicians were jailed, and the bank account of Congress was frozen. Under the guise of corruption, they sent ED, Income Tax (Department), CBI, and the ones who did not have a strong heart; they went to them, and just like that, the washing machine cleaned them up," she said.
Congress intensifies campaign against electoral irregularities
Congress' rally comes amid heightened political activity surrounding Congress's campaign against alleged electoral irregularities. The party has intensified its campaign over the alleged "vote chori" and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue. Party leaders have described the event as a crucial step in a decisive political battle against the BJP-led government. (ANI)
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