Rahul Gandhi alleges 25 lakh fake Haryana voters and duplicates

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused officials of large-scale manipulation of Haryana’s electoral rolls, saying some 2.5 million votes were fake and displaying a photograph he said had been used repeatedly on voter identity cards. Gandhi said the image of a Brazilian woman appeared under multiple names across polling booths and presented the material as proof of an organised effort to turn a predicted Congress victory into a loss in last year’s state election.

Gandhi told reporters, "We have crystal clear proof that 25 lakh voters in Haryana are fake," and said his team had identified more than 5 lakh duplicate entries and other irregularities. He also alleged collusion between the Election Commission and the ruling party and said CCTV evidence had been destroyed. The Election Commission responded by strongly denying the charge, noting there were no appeals filed against the Haryana electoral rolls and pointing out that only 22 petitions are pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court related to the polls. The commission also questioned whether Congress officials had participated in the Special Intensive Revision of rolls that is designed to remove duplicates,...