Rahul Gandhi goes Vivek Agnihotri way? Congress to release ‘The Deletion Files' amid 'vote chori' row

The Congress is all set to release "The Deletion Files" on Thursday, September 18. Does the title sound familiar? Well, it brings to mind director Vivek Agnihotri’s works such as The Kashmir Files, The Udaipur Files, and The Bengal Files.

The Congress is preparing to launch a fresh salvo at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), intensifying its attack over the "vote chori" allegations.

In this regard, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will hold a press briefing at Indira Bhawan Auditorium on September 18 (Thursday).

"The Kashmir Files" focuses on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the late 1980s, while "The Bengal Files" depicts the 1946 Direct Action Day and subsequent riots. "The Udaipur Files" is about Kanhaiya Lal Tailor murder.

Earlier, on September 1, Rahul Gandhi had warned the BJP of an impending expose. He said he will soon unleash a "hydrogen bomb" about his allegations of vote theft, as what was shown about Mahadevpura was just an "atom bomb."

On August 7, Gandhi's alleged that over 1,00,250 "fake votes" were created in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka to ensure a win for the BJP.

He outlined alleged methods of vote manipulation, including duplicate voters, fake addresses, bulk registrations, invalid photos, and Form 6 misuse.

"We found 1,00,250 votes stolen. Stolen in five different ways. Duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address, on a building with 50-60 people living. But when we go there, no record of those people living there. One family living in that house," the Congress leader said.

Rahul Gandhi presented the Congress's research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka.

“Our internal polling told us we would win 16 seats in Karnataka; we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We focused on Mahadevapur...All data is 2024 data from the Election Commission; the total votes polled in the Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakhs,” he said.

"The BJP won with 6,58,915, securing a margin of 32,707. But then we look at Mahadevapura, where Congress polls 1,15,586 and BJP polls 2,29,632. Congress wins all Vidhan Sabhas but this one," the Congress leader added.

The Congress initiated the "Vote Chori" campaign with a dedicated website (votechori.in) and call-in number, urging citizens to support demands for transparent voter rolls.

The Election Commission had termed Gandhi's claims "false and misleading," asking him to submit a sworn declaration or apologise, citing voter roll availability in PDF format for privacy concerns.