Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini slams Rahul Gandhi over ‘vote theft’ charge, says Congress ‘misleading the country’

Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for alleging large-scale “vote theft” in the state’s 2024 assembly elections. Saini accused Gandhi of trying to “mislead the country” and said the Congress party was attempting to push India backwards with its false claims.

Speaking to reporters in Panchkula, Saini initially said he did not want to comment on the matter but later launched a strong counterattack. “Rahul Gandhi is trying to mislead the country. The Congress has always worked towards pushing the nation back,” he said, adding that the opposition was resorting to baseless allegations after running out of real issues.

“The Congress and its yuvraj (prince) have no issues left. They are spreading lies and misleading people. Even after four generations of rule, if they still speak falsehoods, it is unfortunate,” the chief minister remarked.

The response came after Rahul Gandhi, during a press conference earlier in the day, claimed that 25 lakh “fake” or invalid voters were listed in Haryana — nearly 12.5% of the total electorate of about two crore. Gandhi alleged that the Congress lost the election by just 22,000 votes due to “theft of democracy”.

Citing electoral data, Gandhi said the list included 5.21 lakh duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid voters, and 19.26 lakh “bulk” voters. He also claimed a stock photo of a Brazilian model was used multiple times as different voters and accused CM Saini of being aware of the irregularities before the polls.

The BJP dismissed Gandhi’s claims as “false and baseless,” saying the Congress was questioning the Election Commission to cover up its electoral defeat. Election Commission officials, meanwhile, reportedly called Gandhi’s charge “unfounded”, noting that no appeals or objections were filed against the electoral rolls in Haryana.