BJP’s Jagdambika Pal takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote theft’ allegations 

At the Swami Vivekanand Run 2025 in Mumbai on Sunday (September 21, 2025), the chief guest, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, took a sharp dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent ‘vote theft’ allegations.

The run was organised by a voluntary organisation, the Bharat Vikas Parishad, to promote Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, and contribute to charitable causes. 

“Rahul Gandhi claimed he wanted to burst a hydrogen bomb, but he could not even light a phool jhari (sparkler). The Election Commission has repeatedly said it is impartial and does not favour any side, whether it is the ruling party or the Opposition. If Rahul Gandhi has any solid proof of his tall allegations, he must come forward and submit all the proofs to the Election Commission,” Mr. Pal, the BJP MP representing Domariyaganj, Uttar Pradesh, told media persons. 

He accused Mr. Gandhi of attempting to mislead the public with his baseless claims. “Earlier, he and leaders like Akhilesh Yadav (of the Samajwadi Party or SP) and Tejaswi Yadav (of the Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD) blamed EVMs (electronic voting machines) for their failures in election results. Now they are questioning Bihar’s voter list, even though the Election Commission is ensuring that only genuine Indian citizens vote in the Bihar election and not someone from Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees, Nepal, or any foreigner for that matter. The fight Rahul Gandhi is waging today is essentially for Bangladeshis and Rohingyas,” Mr. Pal said. 

The remarks have come after Mr. Gandhi’s September 18 press conference, in which he accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting “vote chors” (thieves) and alleged attempts to delete over 6,000 voters’ names from Karnataka’s Aland constituency.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray or UBT) MP Sanjay Raut reiterated Mr. Gandhi’s claims, and alleged widespread “vote chori” in Maharashtra.