“Vote Chor Gaddi Chor”: Rahul Gandhi targets PM Modi, calls him ‘hollow’ during Bihar Yatra

Congress leader and Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “hollow” and dependent on “friends with deep pockets” to build his image, while addressing rallies during the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar. He cited former US President Donald Trump’s claim that Modi halted military operations against Pakistan “within five hours” of being asked to stop. “He brags of a 56-inch chest, but Trump says Modi stopped the conflict within five hours,” Gandhi told the gathering in Sitamarhi’s Runni Saidpur.

The Congress leader alleged that the Gujarat model which helped Modi rise to national prominence was “based on vote chori (theft of votes).” He claimed manipulations occurred in 70–80 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said the Congress will release documents in the next six months to prove instances of vote rigging in the general elections as well as in the Haryana Assembly polls. He said proof of electoral irregularities had earlier been provided in Karnataka.

During the rally, Gandhi raised the slogan “Vote Chor Gaddi Chor” and accused the BJP of stealing votes from the poor “to suppress their voice.” He said the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ was being held to highlight alleged irregularities in Bihar’s voter list. “The people of Bihar are smart and cautious and will not let them steal even a single vote,” he said, while invoking the Constitution and claiming the BJP was attempting to “snatch rights” from Dalits and underprivileged communities.

Rahul Gandhi was joined by alliance partners Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD and Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI-ML. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra participated briefly, including a motorcycle rally, before leaving in the afternoon. DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin addressed a rally in Muzaffarpur, where he criticised the deletion of 65 lakh names from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls as “worse than terrorism.” The rally also saw Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav publicly interacting, amid speculation of rivalry between the two leaders.

The BJP responded by highlighting past controversial remarks of Stalin and other DMK leaders about the people of Bihar. Effigies of Stalin and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who had joined the yatra earlier, were burnt by BJP workers in Patna. The INDIA bloc’s 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ will cover over 1,300 km across 20 districts and conclude in Patna on September 1. Bihar Assembly elections are expected later this year, with the NDA comprising BJP, JD(U) and LJP seeking to retain power against the opposition INDIA bloc of RJD, Congress and Left parties.