'Vote theft' led to BJP's win in assembly constituency in Gujarat, claims Congress

Ahmedabad, Aug 30 (PTI) Gujarat Congress on Saturday alleged "vote theft" in an assembly constituency, claiming that suspicious, fraudulent and duplicate voters had contributed to the BJP's victory in elections in the state.

Talking to reporters, state Congress president Amit Chavda said that the party had started scrutiny of the voter list of the Choryasi assembly seat that falls under the Navsari Lok Sabha seat represented by Gujarat BJP president and Union Cabinet Minister CR Paatil and found large-scale "vote theft".

"Voter lists are the basis of the democratic process, and if that is damaged, then it means that democracy is in danger. We have decided to check voter lists of the entire state, starting with the Choryasi assembly constituency. In Gujarat, one person casts multiple votes, due to which the entire result changes," Chavda claimed.

The Congress has decided to expose those behind "the conspiracy to steal people's votes" and will reach out to every household in the state by 2027 when the next assembly election is due, he said.

Chavda said the party zeroed in on the Choryasi seat, as it came under Paatil's Lok Sabha constituency, from where he has won by record margins.

According to the Congress leader, out of around 6 lakh voters in Choryasi, the party checked 40 per cent — or around 2.40 lakh voters — and found that more than 30 per cent of them were either duplicate, fake or did not exist. Their names, ages, surnames, photos and EPIC cards raised doubts.

"This is from an assembly constituency that comes under the Lok Sabha seat of the BJP's state president, and a Union minister, who wins election after election by record margins. We have exposed the theft by a big BJP leader. And it can be said with 100 per cent proof that theft has taken place there in lakhs. This means that this system is running in the whole of Gujarat," he said.

Chavda claimed that theft of about 62 lakh votes has taken place in the state.

Votes have been stolen with five different methods in the Choryasi seat, he added.

He explained that the name, surname and photo of the voter was duplicated, then there was a variation or a mistake in spelling. In the third method, he said the same voter has different EPIC cards, and in the fourth, the voter list is made available in languages other than Gujarati, while the fifth is where the person on the voter list is the same, but one or two letters have been changed in his surname, and a new voter has been created.

The Congress leader said party delegates will meet the Ahmedabad collector on Sunday and launch a fight for voters' rights, which will continue till 2027 when the next assembly polls take place.

Chavda said, "CR Paatil is a responsible leader who believes in the democratic process. If such a big fraud has taken place in the voter list under his Lok Sabha constituency, then why did he not draw people's attention towards it?" He said that the Gujarat Congress is committed to saving democracy and protecting the constitutional rights of the people.

"The votes of the citizens of Gujarat and their constitutional right should be protected. We will go to every house in the state, meet every voter, and expose all the frauds in the voter list and vote thieves in Gujarat by 2027 and force them out of power," he said.

"The data we have used is online and available on the website of the Election Commission. The proof that we are giving is available on the website, and if it is wrong, then it is their responsibility to correct it," he said.

He said that it is the responsibility of the Election Commission of India to answer questions posed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding vote theft.

The ECI is an autonomous body, and should remain neutral, Chavda said.

"But when allegations are made against it (EC), it does not have the courage to accept the wrongdoings and is asking for an affidavit from Rahul Gandhi under pressure from the BJP government," he claimed. PTI KA PD ARU