Rahul Alleges Brazilian Woman's Name Found in Haryana's Electoral List, ECI Slams Congress For Not Raising Objection

New Delhi: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that 1 in 8 voters in Haryana are fake, claiming large-scale voter fraud and pointing to unexplained differences between postal and booth votes.

Just a day before the first phase of Bihar polls, he said his team has clear proof that around 25 lakh voters in the state are either duplicate, nonexistent, or manipulated.

While addressing a press conference titled 'H Files', Rahul Gandhi said: "...We have crystal clear proof that 25 lakh voters (in Haryana) are fake, that they either don't exist or they are duplicate or are designed in a way for anybody to vote...1 in 8 voters in Haryana are fake, that's 12.5%..."

During the press conference, Gandhi claimed that a woman appeared to have voted 22 times across different booths using multiple names.

He said the image linked to her was a stock photograph of a Brazilian model and that similar cases could involve up to 25 lakh records in the state.

"...Congress lost the election by 22,000 votes...Who is this lady?... She votes 22 times in Haryana, in 10 different booths in Haryana. She has multiple names...That means this is a centralised operation...The lady is a Brazilian model. That's a stock photograph and she is one of 25 lakh such records in Haryana," he said.

The Congress raked up the issue of voter fraud in Haryana in a separate social media post.

In a post on X, the Indian National Congress wrote: "What is a Brazilian Woman Doing on Haryana's Electoral List? Who is this lady? How old is she? Where is she from? She voted 22 times in Haryana, across 10 different booths in the state, using multiple names: Seema, Sweety, Rashmi, etc. This suggests a centralised operation, similar to Aland and Mahadevapura."

"What's shocking is that she's reportedly from Brazil—a Brazilian model, to be specific. She's one of the 25 lakh such records in Haryana, which further supports the existence of a centralised operation. The big question remains: what is a Brazilian woman doing on Haryana's electoral list? There's clearly a reason behind it," the X post added.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has hit back at Rahul Gandhi's claims.

In its response, the ECI said that there were no appeals against electoral rolls in Haryana and asked why the Congress party did not raise objections earlier.

"What were the polling agents of Indian National Congress party doing in the Polling Stations? They are supposed to object if the elector has already voted or if the Polling Agents doubt the identity of the elector...Only 22 Election Petitions currently pending in High Court against 90 Assembly Seats. Is Rahul Gandhi supporting SSR which removes duplicate, dead and shifted voters along with verification of citizenship or he is opposing!," the ECI asked.

The Election body further asked: "Why were no claims and objections raised by INC’s BLAs during revision to avoid multiple names? Why were no claims and objections raised by INC’s BLAs during revision to avoid multiple names? Why were no appeals filed by INC’s BLAs during revision to avoid multiple names?"

The Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana has also issued a statement on the Haryana Assembly elections 2024. The officer shared that the number of appeals against the EROs filed with the DMs and the number of second appeals, against orders of DMs, filed with CEO was NIL. He also shared that there were no objections received by candidates on the next day of poll during scrutiny.

Other Allegations by Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi claimed to have received multiple complaints from Congress candidates in Haryana.

"We have the word 'H' Files and this is about how an entire state has been stolen...We suspected that this was not happening in individual constituencies, but rather at the state and national levels. We received numerous complaints in Haryana from our candidates, stating that something was not working correctly. Their predictions all went upside down. We had experienced this in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra but we decided to zoom into Haryana and go into details about what had happened there," he said.

The Congress claimed that a plan was set in motion to turn a predicted Congress win into a loss and also urged young voters to pay attention, citing claims backed by strong evidence.

"All (exit) polls pointed to a Congress victory (in Haryana)...The other thing that was surprising to us was that, for the first time in Haryana's electoral history, postal votes differed from the actual voting...This had never happened in Haryana before. So, we thought, 'Let's go into the details.' When I first saw this information, I struggled to believe it. I was in shock...I told the team to cross-check multiple times," Gandhi said.

"...I want the young people, GenZ of India to understand this clearly because this is about your future...I am questioning the EC and the democratic process in India, so I am doing it with 100% proof. We are pretty sure that a plan was put in motion to convert Congress' landslide victory into a loss...Please note the smile on his face (CM Nayab Saini) and notice the 'vyavastha' that he is talking about. This is 2 days after election when everybody is saying that the Congress is sweeping the elections," he said.

He stated that a corrupt voter list undermines democracy and emphasised that the opposition will coordinate on next steps, while urging young people and residents of Haryana to understand the issue.

While addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi said: "Every single party understands this. There is nothing hidden here. The fundamental question of an election is the integrity of a voter list...We are showing you that Haryana voter list is flawed, rubbish. If this is flawed, elections are fundamentally flawed. We have been suspecting this again and again...Now, we have proof that the voter list in India is a lie. If the voter list is a lie, there is no democracy...How we proceed, we will coordinate with the Opposition, we will work together but the fundamental thing that the youth of India and people of Haryana have to understand is that there was no election in Haryana, it was a lie."

He claimed that 3.5 lakh voters were removed from the rolls ahead of the Haryana legislative assembly elections and shared recordings of self-proclaimed victims and witnesses.

Gandhi claimed that multiple people cast votes several times at different booths.

He accused the Election Commission of ignoring duplicates to favour the BJP and said the government in Haryana and at the Centre was "not legitimately formed."

"Let's get duplicates. They have duplicate photos, we have 223 photos in one booth...we have the same photo appearing again and again. We have a gentleman who is voting 14 times—in booth 508, booth 431. We have another man, Rudrabhishek Jain—he is voting in booth number 130, booth 131. His brother is also voting; they have 18 votes. EC can remove duplicates in a second...You don't even need AI for that...But they don't do it because they are helping the BJP," he said.

"What we are doing is making it crystal clear to the people of India what has happened. We are informing the people of India that the PM, HM are not legitimately in Govt, that the CM of Haryana is not legitimately in Govt, that the Govt has been stolen," he said.

He said a woman appeared 223 times in just two polling booths and could potentially vote multiple times.

"A woman appears 223 times in two polling booths; she can vote any number of times she wants. Election Commission needs to tell us how many times this lady (voted)," he said."...Thousands of BJP voters, BJP leaders are voting in Uttar Pradesh and voting in Haryana. This is Dalchand, BJP Sarpanch, sitting with Minister Laxmi Narayan...That's his voter ID in UP, and that's his voter ID in Haryana. Yashveer, son of the same man, votes for the BJP in Haryana and in UP...So, you have a BJP leader who is voting in UP and Haryana," Gandhi said.

Responding to a question about approaching the Supreme Court over his fresh allegations of voter fraud, he said his team is presenting evidence from Haryana, Mahadevapura, and Aland openly to the media, using official data to highlight irregularities.

He was also asked if alliance workers in Bihar are being trained to tackle the issue; in response, he stated that if the voter list is flawed, no amount of training can ensure fair elections.

"If the voter list is corrupt, and we are being given the voter list at the last moment, nothing will come out of training...If this is wrong, no amount of training is going to fix it...So, if the voter list is corrupt and EC is using voter list to finish off elections, then nothing will come out of training, no party can do it. Supreme Court is watching, they have seen Mahadevapura presentation, Aland presentation and now they have seen Haryana presentation. It is not hidden. We are not doing it in a quiet room, we are doing it in front of Indian media...There is nothing here that can be questioned. This is their data, this is not our data," Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has said that it will give a detailed response to all of Rahul Gandhi's claims soon.