Will Rahul Gandhi deliver on 'hydrogen bomb' on 'vote chori' at presser on September 18?

New Delhi: After promising a "hydrogen bomb" of expose on 'vote chori' (vote theft) over a fortnight ago, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will hold a “special” press conference in the national capital on Thursday. This comes amid speculation that he will be making new claims on constituencies of at least two states and a high profile Lok Sabha seat.

Congress Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera posted on X that Rahul will hold a “special press briefing” at 10 am at Indira Bhavan, the party headquarters, in the capital. However, Khera did not specify the topic of the press conference.

This press conference comes 40 days after Rahul raised questions on the electoral outcome of Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat, claiming that there was “chori” (stealing) of one lakh votes in Mahadevapura Assembly segment during the 2024 polls. He had then claimed that the Election Commission was colluding with the BJP, which he called a “crime” against the Constitution.

While he had called the Mahadevapura expose as "atom bomb", Rahul had on September 1 said in Patna that a “hydrogen bomb” will soon unravel the truth of ‘vote chori’ following which Prime Minister Narendra Modi "will not be able to show his face to the country". His announcement came at the culmination of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar with a 'Gandhi se Ambedkar' march.

There is no official word from the Congress on the subject of the press conference but speculation is rife that Rahul may come up with claims on a few seats in Haryana and Gujarat. Some Congress supporters have speculated that it could be about Varanasi, which is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier, UP Congress President Ajay Rai, who contested against Modi, had claimed that Rahul's next disclosure could be about Varanasi and the "hydrogen bomb" would explode there. However, he was quick to add that he had not spoken to Rahul on this.