AHMEDABAD: Congress has turned “vote theft” into its biggest poll weapon in Gujarat. After Rahul Gandhi’s explosive charge of electoral fraud nationwide, the Gujarat Congress will launch a state-wide “Vote Chor Gadi Chod” door-to-door signature campaign from October 3, targeting five crore signatures to expose alleged rigging and duplicate voter lists.
The storm over “vote theft” is now set to blow across Gujarat, with the Congress converting the allegation into a mass political movement. After Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling BJP of systematic electoral fraud in the Lok Sabha, Maharashtra and Haryana elections, the Gujarat Congress has decided to hammer the issue straight into the heart of Surat politics.
On Thursday, October 3, Congress will roll out a massive state-wide door-to-door drive branded as the “Vote Chor Gadi Chod” signature campaign. From Surat to Rajkot, from Ahmedabad to Vadodara, and across all Gujarat party workers will knock on doors, demanding people’s signatures to declare that “vote theft must end and voter lists must be cleaned.”
At a press conference in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda declared, “In a democracy, every citizen’s vote has equal value, be it the Prime Minister, the President, or a common man. But under BJP rule, the Election Commission, once autonomous, has turned into a puppet. Gujarat Congress has already exposed 30,000 fake and duplicate names in just one constituency.” He added that Rahul Gandhi’s warning of manipulated elections was not rhetoric but reality.
“To save democracy, we are launching the ‘Vote Chor – Gadi Chod’ campaign in Gujarat. Between October 3 and 10, we will collect over five crore signatures across the country. We call upon every citizen to join this fight, expose vote thieves, and protect constitutional rights.”
Surat has been chosen as the epicentre of this agitation, particularly the Varachha belt, once dominated by the BJP, now an AAP stronghold. By aggressively campaigning here, Congress seeks not only to corner the BJP but also to puncture AAP’s growing base in urban Surat.
Special pamphlets with four questions on voter fraud have been designed. Voters will have to tick their answers and then sign in support of the campaign. By directly linking people’s opinions with its allegations, Congress hopes to turn accusations into a people’s verdict.
The Choryasi Assembly segment of Surat, already under Congress scanner for alleged voter list manipulation, will see an intense push. Party leaders believe that highlighting “vote theft” here will resonate across Gujarat’s urban belts and fuel anti-BJP sentiment.
The Congress’ aggressive strategy signals a clear shift: it wants to confuse the ruling BJP on moral grounds, capture AAP’s protest vote bank, and rebrand itself as the true defender of democracy. By taking Rahul Gandhi’s national allegation of rigged elections to the grassroots of Gujarat, Congress aims to set the agenda for the upcoming polls.