Congress to Release “The Deletion Files” as Rahul Gandhi Steps Up ‘Vote Chori’ Battle
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 18th Sept: The Congress party is preparing for a fresh political showdown with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it readies the release of a report titled “The Deletion Files” on Thursday, September 18. The title, which appears to echo filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s controversial series of movies—The Kashmir Files, The Bengal Files, and The Udaipur Files—is expected to spark renewed debate in the political and public arena.
The event will be headlined by Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to hold a press briefing at the Indira Bhawan Auditorium. The focus will be on allegations of large-scale voter manipulation, which the party has described as “vote chori” or vote theft.
Gandhi’s “Hydrogen Bomb” Allegation
For weeks, Gandhi has been building up to this moment, accusing the BJP of rigging the electoral system with the aid of the Election Commission of India (ECI). On September 1, he warned that what had been revealed in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura Assembly segment was merely an “atom bomb,” while a “hydrogen bomb” of revelations was yet to come. Thursday’s release of The Deletion Files is being pitched as that explosive disclosure.
According to Gandhi, the BJP secured victories in several constituencies by manipulating voter rolls. He claims that over 1,00,250 fake votes were created in Mahadevapura alone during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to tilt the balance in BJP’s favor.
Alleged Methods of Vote Manipulation
Gandhi’s team has outlined multiple ways in which voter rolls were allegedly compromised. These include:
- Duplicate voters listed in multiple locations.
- Fake addresses where no voters were found residing.
- Bulk registrations at single addresses, often without verification.
- Invalid or missing photographs on voter IDs.
- Misuse of Form 6 to generate fraudulent voter entries.
Presenting data from the 2024 general elections, Gandhi highlighted how internal Congress surveys projected 16 wins in Karnataka, but the party managed only nine. The focus later narrowed to seven constituencies with unexpected losses. In Mahadevapura, Congress polled 1,15,586 votes compared to BJP’s 2,29,632, despite winning surrounding Vidhan Sabha segments.
“The BJP won with 6,58,915 votes, a margin of 32,707. But in Mahadevapura, the patterns do not match. It is here that we found more than one lakh stolen votes,” Gandhi alleged.
The “Vote Chori” Campaign
The Congress has amplified its campaign against alleged electoral malpractice through a dedicated website—votechori.in—and a helpline number, encouraging citizens to join the demand for transparent and verifiable voter rolls. The initiative, branded as the Vote Chori Campaign, has become a central theme of the INDIA bloc’s attacks against the Modi government.
Election Commission’s Response
The Election Commission of India has rejected Gandhi’s claims, calling them “false and misleading.” It has urged him to either provide a sworn declaration with evidence or withdraw the allegations and issue a public apology. The Commission also emphasized that voter rolls are publicly available only in PDF format to safeguard citizens’ privacy.
Political Stakes Rise
The timing of The Deletion Files release is significant. With state elections around the corner and the Lok Sabha polls still fresh in public memory, Congress hopes to use the controversy to frame the BJP as undermining democracy. At the same time, the party risks confrontation with the Election Commission and legal challenges if its evidence is deemed insufficient.
As Gandhi prepares to unveil his much-promised “hydrogen bomb,” the political battlefield appears set for yet another polarizing clash between the Opposition and the ruling party.
