Every sixth MP in Lok Sabha won through 'vote theft', should we call them 'infiltrators': Rahul Gandhi

Rahul had earlier had termed the BJP's victory in Bengal and Assam assembly polls a "theft" of the mandate and a big step forward in the saffron party's mission to "destroy" Indian democracy.

New Delhi: Ratcheting up his campaign on 'vote chori', Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that every sixth BJP MP in the Lok Sabha has won through "vote theft" and asked whether they should be described as in BJP's own term "infiltrators".

His fresh salvo -- in which he also said the BJP would not be able to win 140 seats today -- came after he endorsed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's claim that at least 100 seats they lost in West Bengal saw electoral manipulation.

"Through vote theft, sometimes seats are stolen, and at other times, an entire government. Out of the 240 BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha, roughly every sixth MP has won through vote theft. It's not hard to identify them - should we call them 'infiltrators' in BJP's own language?" he posted on 'X'.

"And Haryana? There, the entire government is 'infiltrator'. The institutions they keep in their pockets, the ones that tamper with voter lists and the electoral process - those themselves are 'remote controlled'. Their real fear is the truth. Because if fair elections were held, even today they couldn't win 140 seats," he said.

He had earlier had termed the BJP's victory in Bengal and Assam assembly polls a "theft" of the mandate and a big step forward in the saffron party's mission to "destroy" Indian democracy.

Separately, Congress Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera told reporters the "vote chor BJP regime" has now "brazenly and systematically subverted" the mandate of the people of Assam and West Bengal.

Alleging that the BJP has "effectively hijacked" the institutions that are meant to protect free and fair elections, he said the I.N.D.I.A. bloc "stands unequivocally" with Mamata in this "decisive moment of democratic crisis".

"Her resolve to strengthen the I.N.D.I.A. bloc reflects a wider national imperative, the defence of constitutional democracy against systematic sabotage. The I.N.D.I.A. bloc is united in recognising that what has transpired in West Bengal is not an election outcome, but a manufactured verdict imposed through manipulation," he said.

He said during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, 91 lakh voters were deleted from the rolls while 27 lakh citizens were denied even the basic procedural right to be heard before any tribunal.

"In at least 50 constituencies, the number of deleted voters exceeded the winning margin itself, rendering the declared results structurally pre-decided. It is premeditated electoral engineering. Assam and West Bengal are no longer witnessing flawed elections, they are witnessing a captured democratic process," he claimed.