Chowkidar Chor To Vote Chori: Can Rahul Gandhi Steal The High-Stakes Bihar Show With EC Campaign?
Bihar poll results will show success of campaign. If the Congress+RJD lose, it will be seen as a failure of yet another campaign by Gandhi, just like Rafael & Chowkidar Chor Hai
Rahul Gandhi is on a mission – it is to shake the confidence of people in the electoral system. But will his stir against the Election Commission (EC) end like his 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' campaign?
The story goes back to the results of Maharashtra and Haryana. As the win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became clear, many in the Congress were startled, especially those close to Gandhi. They were convinced something was fishy.
Gandhi was convinced that the loss was not Congress's fault but it was forced by the BJP and EC working in tandem. And that's when the idea of Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) came up with its focus on working of the EC and polls.
वोट चोरी 'एक व्यक्ति, एक वोट' के बुनियादी लोकतांत्रिक सिद्धांत पर हमला है।स्वतंत्र और निष्पक्ष चुनावों के लिए साफ़-सुथरी मतदाता सूची अनिवार्य है।
चुनाव आयोग से हमारी मांग साफ़ है – पारदर्शिता दिखाएं और डिजिटल मतदाता सूची सार्वजनिक करें, ताकि जनता और राजनीतिक दल उसका खुद ऑडिट… pic.twitter.com/BIahCz2YBb
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 10, 2025
Sources say the entire campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), 'vote choro' is being monitored and micromanaged by Gandhi personally.
He has told his party colleagues to ensure all push this campaign, because if there is poll irregularity 'no matter how hard we work we will never win".
INDIA bloc, TMC & #votechori
Gandhi has taken many initiatives. One, personally reaching out to the once fragmented Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders.
The big success was to get the Trinamool Congress, which has been miffed with the Congress for multiple reasons, on board. In fact, sources say the Congress appointed a TMC chief Mamata Banerjee-pliant Congress leader Subhankar Sarkar as the Bengal Congress chief to placate the TMC. So when he picked up the phone, and spoke to Abhishek Banerjee and asked to come together on the SIR issue, it was not tough to do so as even the TMC is fighting a campaign against the BJP and EC ahead of state polls in 2026.
चुनाव आयोग, 5 सवाल हैं – देश जवाब चाहता है:1. विपक्ष को डिजिटल वोटर लिस्ट क्यों नहीं मिल रही? क्या छिपा रहे हो?2. CCTV और वीडियो सबूत मिटाए जा रहे हैं – क्यों? किसके कहने पर?3. फर्जी वोटिंग और वोटर लिस्ट में गड़बड़ी की गई – क्यों?4. विपक्षी नेताओं को धमकाना, डराना – क्यों?… pic.twitter.com/P0Wf4nh5hc
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 8, 2025
It was after a long time that the TMC attended a get-together hosted by the Congress.
Not just stopping at this, Gandhi also asked the top leaders to ensure that all party leaders sink their differences to fight together on the SIR and #votechori campaign. It was because of Gandhi's insistence that Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari were reached out to – and lo and behold, both stood firmly with the party on the EC issue.
'Vote Adhikar Yatra'
But Gandhi is not stopping at this. He has launched an online people's campaign asking them either to click on a link or give a missed call. This is to ensure that more and more people support him.
Vote Chori सिर्फ़ एक चुनावी घोटाला नहीं, ये संविधान और लोकतंत्र के साथ किया गया बड़ा धोखा है।देश के गुनहगार सुन लें – वक़्त बदलेगा, सज़ा ज़रूर मिलेगी। pic.twitter.com/tR7wh589fN
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 8, 2025
This will be followed by a kind of Bharat Jodo Yatra called 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' from Sasaram in Bihar to 'wake up" people to what he calls the 'tyranny of the EC". This yatra will last for about 15 days, culminating in a big INDIA bloc rally in Patna.
Sasaram is an interesting choice to begin as it was once the kingdom of Raja Harishchandra who had forsaken his kingdom for his principles, a narrative Gandhi wants to push about himself.
But is Gandhi putting all his eggs in one basket? Is it a risk worth taking? Because the result of the risk will be the Bihar poll results. If the Congress + RJD lose, it will be seen as a failure of yet another campaign by Gandhi, just like like Rafael and 'Chowkidar Chor Hai'.
It's a litmus test moment for Rahul Gandhi once again.
view comments
Location :
New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
August 10, 2025, 16:33 IST
News politics Chowkidar Chor To Vote Chori: Can Rahul Gandhi Steal The High-Stakes Bihar Show With EC Campaign?
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Bengaluru must lead with future-ready urban infrastructure: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Bengaluru: Bengaluru must take the lead in building future-ready urban infrastructure to keep pace with the demands of the 21st century, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday, inaugurating key mobility projects in the city. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "In the 21st century, urban planning and infrastructure are critical needs for our cities. Bengaluru must be prepared for future," Modi said, highlighting that recent years have seen projects worth thousands of crores launched for Bengaluru. He urged the city to strengthen its role in Make in India and manufacturing. "Our next big priority should be becoming self-reliant in technology. India's products must adhere to the Zero Defect, Zero Effect standard," he said. Hailing India's rise as "the fastest-growing major economy in the world", he noted in 11 years, the country has moved from the tenth to the fifth-largest economy and is rapidly progressing toward becoming one of the top three economies. His remarks come days after US President Donald Trump's India is a "dead economy" jibe. Modi linked this growth to the 'Reform, Perform and Transform' approach, and cited rapid infrastructure expansion: Metro networks have grown from five cities in 2014 to over 1,000km in 24 cities today, making India the third-largest network globally. He noted expansion of railway electrification to over 40,000km in the same period, airports from 74 to 160, and national waterways from three to 30. Highlighting Bengaluru's role in India's transformation, Modi pointed to electronics exports rising from $6 billion in 2014 to $38 billion, with India now among the top five mobile handset exporters. Automobile exports have more than doubled, placing India fourth globally. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Touching upon the country's technology sector, he said, Indian tech companies have already made a mark globally, developing software and products for the entire world. "It is now time to prioritise India's own needs more strongly and we must accelerate the development of new products, especially as software and apps are now being used across every domain," he added. Calling for self-reliance, he said Karnataka's talent will lead the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Digital India, he said, now accounts for over half the world's real-time transactions through UPI, with over 2,200 govt services available on mobile. Modi also cited growth in AIIMS (from 7 to 22) and medical colleges (from 387 to 704), along with over one lakh new medical seats. On housing, he said more than 4 crore pucca houses have been provided under PMAY, with 3 crore more planned. The launch event saw political undercurrents, with both Congress and BJP seeking credit for Bengaluru's Metro.
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Tech savvy Maharashtra CM Fadnavis gives iPads to ministers to ensure cabinet agenda secrecy
A few months ago, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was shocked to learn that the entire agenda, along with the cabinet notes, was easily available to the print and electronic media, a day before the cabinet. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He expressed strong displeasure over the manner in which the media released the agenda. Later, Fadnavis found that in the past too, the entire agenda was available to the media, despite best efforts by the CM concerned to ensure secrecy. During the tenure of Vilasrao Deshmukh, the agenda used to be circulated a few minutes before the cabinet. However, when a section of the cabinet members lodged a protest, the old system of submitting the agenda a day before the cabinet was restored. Fadnavis has decided to use technology for maintaining secrecy, confirmed a section of bureaucrats. They said that he has taken the leakage of cabinet agenda very seriously as it has caused embarrassment. All cabinet members are given a state-of-art iPad and a few hours before the cabinet, they get the one-time-password to access the cabinet notes on them. Most of the cabinet members are, however, unhappy with the new system, since they are not well versed with the new technology. Pointing out that it is never too late to learn something new, a top bureaucrat said as many cabinet members are young it is not difficult for them to adopt the new technology. For Congress induction event, Durrani rents civic parking lot It is difficult to believe, but it is true. A veteran politician from Marathwada, Babajani Durrani, took BMC's entire parking lot in central Mumbai on rent to accommodate visitors' vehicles so that locals were not inconvenienced when he officially joined Congress in a grand event at the party headquarters in Dadar. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The entire rent was paid in advance, according to a senior Congress leader. Durrani was a popular NCP (SP) leader from Marathwada, particularly Parbhani district. He was being lured by prominent politicians to join their party, including BJP and Shiv Sena. Durrani took the view that in the ultimate process, only two parties – Congress and BJP will remain in the country, then after a prolonged thought he decided to join Congress. Grand preparations were made for his entry in Congress in the presence of state party president Harshawardhan Sapkal and former minister Amit Deshmukh at Tilak Bhavan. Whenever there is a big event in Tilak Bhavan, traffic movement in the entire area comes to a halt and locals complain about being inconvenienced. Taking note of these issues, Durrani decided to rent the civic parking lot to ensure proper arrangement for vehicles.
Hindustan Times
37 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Air India flight carrying several MPs averts runway tragedy after diversion to Chennai
An Air India flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi escaped a mishap when another flight came on the same runway after the flight was diverted to Chennai due to a fault. KC Venugopal informed about the Air India incident through a social media post.(Bloomberg/File) The flight, which was carrying several MPs, including Congress secretary KC Venugopal, hit turbulence shortly after takeoff from Thiruvananthpuram. Venugopal informed about the incident through a social media post. 'Air India flight AI 2455 from Trivandrum to Delhi - carrying myself, several MPs, and hundreds of passengers - came frighteningly close to tragedy today. What began as a delayed departure turned into a harrowing journey. Shortly after take-off, we were hit by unprecedented turbulence. About an hour later, the Captain announced a flight signal fault and diverted to Chennai. For nearly two hours, we circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, until a heart-stopping moment during our first attempt - another aircraft was reportedly on the same runway. In that split second, the Captain's quick decision to pull up saved every life on board. The flight landed safely on the second attempt,' Venugopal wrote in a post on X. 'We were saved by skill and luck. Passenger safety cannot depend on luck. I urge @DGCAIndia and @MoCA_GoI to investigate this incident urgently, fix accountability, and ensure such lapses never happen again.'
