Latest news with #VoteChor
New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Jagan has 'Hotline' with Modi and Shah: APCC chief Sharmila Reddy
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief YS Sharmila Reddy launched a scathing attack on YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing him of maintaining a covert alliance with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sharmila led a candlelight rally in response to the AICC's call for 'Vote Chor - Gaddi Chhod' campaign. Speaking to the media later, Sharmila alleged that Jagan has a 'hotline' with Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, questioning whether he could swear on the Bible to deny these ties. Sharmila contrasted Jagan's actions with those of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, emphasising that Rahul fights for citizens' rights and the Constitution without resorting to tactics like suppressing dissent or aligning with the ruling party.
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
TPCC chief asks cadre to intensify ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chod' campaign
HYDERABAD: TPCC chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Wednesday directed his party cadre to intensify the 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chod' campaign launched by AICC leader Rahul Gandhi. He urged the cadre to take out statewide rallies to expose irregularities in electoral rolls ahead of Independence Day. The TPCC chief, along with AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, held a video conference with the DCC presidents. The conference was also attended by ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Adluri Laxman Kumar. He said that the 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chod' campaign will be carried out in three stages, starting with a candlelight rally on August 14. He said that elected representatives at all levels should participate in the protest to be held between August 22 to September 7 to expose the 'BJP-ECI collusion'. He said that there will be a national-level campaign from September 15 to October 15. The TPCC chief also directed the DCC chiefs to appoint village-, mandal-level committees. He also requested the party leaders to actively engage in rain relief- related activities.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rahul to lead 16-day ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar as Congress intensifies fight against SIR
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is all set to start a 16-day-long 'Vote Adhikar Yatra' from Sasaram in Bihar on Sunday (August 17, 2025), as the principal Opposition party steps up its campaign against alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the State. On Wednesday (August 13, 2025), Mr. Gandhi put out a video on his X handle in which he is seen interacting with a group of voters, who have been declared dead in the SIR exercise, concluded recently. 'There have been many interesting experiences in life, but I never got the chance to have tea with 'dead people'. For this unique experience, thank you, Election Commission!' Mr. Gandhi said. Taking the fight to ground zero, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal met the INDIA bloc leaders in Sasaram to assess the preparation for the yatra to be led by Mr. Gandhi. 'The fight to protect our democracy will take place on the streets! Starting August 17th, LOP Sh Rahul Gandhi ji and the INDIA parties will embark on a massive Vote Adhikar Yatra across Bihar — against the dangerous SIR exercise, and to make the battle against Vote Chori a mass movement!' Mr. Venugopal said in a X post on Wednesday (August 13, 2025). Though the Congress is yet to officially announce the exact route, it is tentatively scheduled to pass through 24 districts (of the total 38) and cover nearly 60 of the 243 Assembly seats. The yatra will cross Aurangabad, Gaya, Nalanda, Munger, Purnia, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Sitamarhi, East and West Champaran, and Gopalganj. Supaul, Siwan, Chhapra and Arrah, among others. Many of these areas have seen a large number of complaints about the deletion of voters in the SIR exercise. The yatra will conclude with a public rally at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on September 1. Video launched On Wednesday (August 13, 2025), the party launched a new video around the alleged theme of vote chori [theft], with the video showing how fake votes were being cast in the name of genuine voters. 'Do not let your right to vote be snatched away. Ask questions, demand answers this time! Raise your voice against vote chori. Free constitutional institutions from the clutches of the BJP,' Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X. 'The theft of your vote is the theft of your rights, the theft of your identity!' Mr. Gandhi added. On Tuesday (August 12, 2025), the party announced a series of programmes under the banner of Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod [Vote thief, vacate the seat]. Candlelight vigil on Aug. 14 On August 14, the party will take out a nationwide candlelight march at 8 p.m. in all districts, followed by 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod' rallies in all States between August 22 and September 7, and finally a month-long nationwide signature campaign from September 15 to collect five crore signatures. But beyond the opposition to the SIR exercise, the Congress is hoping that Mr. Gandhi's yatra would infuse the much-needed energy into the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) and build a momentum for the party in the run-up to the Assembly election later this year. 'If you see the Lok Sabha seats through which Rahulji's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra passed, the Opposition alliance won several of these seats. We won Sasaram, the Rashtriya Janata Dal won Aurangabad and so on. We are confident that the Congress's fortunes will change with Rahulji's yatra,' veteran Congress leader Kishore Kumar Jha said.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rahul accuses the Election Commission of not enforcing ‘one man, one vote' principle
Asserting that the Election Commission was not performing its duty of enforcing the principle of 'one man, one vote', the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday (August 12, 2025) hinted at exposing more alleged irregularities in the voters' list. Speaking with reporters in the Parliament House complex, Mr. Gandhi said the Congress was engaged in protecting the Constitution and would continue to do so. Asked about Minta Devi, a voter listed as 124 years old in the electoral rolls in Bihar, Mr. Gandhi said, 'There are unlimited cases like that. Abhi picture baaki hai (the picture is not yet complete).' 'There is not just one seat [where there is vote theft], but there are a number of seats. This is being done at a national level and systematically. The EC knows it and we know it too,' Mr. Gandhi said. 'Earlier, evidence was not there but now the evidence is there. We protect the Constitution. 'One man, one vote' is the foundation of the Constitution,' he said. His sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said there were several such cases in which fake addresses and names of relatives were used. Earlier in the day, several MPs of the INDIA bloc parties held a protest in the Parliament House complex against the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, with many of them wearing white T-shirts that had the name and photo of the '124-year-old voter' emblazoned on them. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T.R. Baalu, Nationalist Congress Party (SP)'s Supriya Sule, and other leaders protested outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament. The MPs held posters and raised slogans, demanding a rollback of the SIR exercise. 'Minta Devi is a first-time voter and she is 124 years old. The voters list carries her name as a first-time voter. We want a discussion on such issues. How EC has become a party to the BJP. The voter list is full of such fraud,' Congress MP Manickam Tagore said. Series of programmes In the evening, after a meeting of Congress office-bearers under the chairmanship of Mr. Kharge, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal announced a series of programmes under the banner of 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod' (Vote thief, vacate the seat). The party will take out a candle light march in all districts at 8 p.m. on August 14, followed by 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod' rallies in all States between August 22 and September 7, and a nationwide 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod' signature campaign from a month from September 15 to collect five crore signatures. 'We will defend the Constitution and safeguard the rights of every voter until our last breath. This is not only a political fight — it is a fight to protect the soul of our democracy,' Mr. Venugopal said in a post on X.
