Rahul Gandhi has tea with 'dead' voters from Bihar, thanks EC for 'unique experience'

Amid the ongoing high-voltage row over the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (13 August) thanked the Indian Election Commission for the "unique experience" he had of having tea with some "dead" voters.

The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha met a group of seven voters at his residence, who told him how they were declared "dead" by the poll body and their names were removed from the electoral rolls.

"There have been many interesting experiences in life, but I never got the chance to have tea with 'dead people'. For this unique experience, thank you Election Commission!" Gandhi said in a post on X.

He also shared a video of his meeting with those voters. Some of the voters are heard telling the Congress leader that they found they were "declared dead" upon checking the electoral rolls released by the EC during the SIR. These people were among the 65 lakh voters whose names have been removed from the rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

The group informed Gandhi that they appeared before the Supreme Court on Wednesday to get their names back on the list as the apex court is hearing petitions against the SIR exercise in Bihar.

Gandhi is also heard asking them if they had ever been to Delhi earlier, and tells them to go for some sightseeing in the capital as the "dead" will not even need any tickets.

Later, the Congress also said that the seven voters from Bihar are very much alive, and they shared tea with Rahul Gandhi.

These voters from Bihar are Ramikbal Ray, Harendra Ray, Lalmuni Devi, Vachiya Devi, Lalwati Devi, Punam Kumari, and Munna Kumar; and all of them hail from RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's Raghopur constituency.

"They have been removed from the electoral rolls despite having completed the requisite paperwork for the SIR. The Election Commission has not openly published lists of the people whom it has declared dead, migrated, etc. Our teams on the ground were able to identify these people only because they managed to informally get EC's internal report in two to three polling booths," the party said.

It added that these seven voters represent only a fraction of the "unjustly" deleted voters in two to three polling booths in the constituency. "This is not a clerical error - it is political disenfranchisement in plain sight," it added.

"After 'Vote Chori' was exposed in Bengaluru, it is clear that the Bihar SIR exercise is also compromised. When the living are struck off as dead, the death certificate is issued to democracy itself," the Congress further said.

Election body slams Rahul's "Vote Chori" campaign

Countering Rahul Gandhi's "vote fraud" allegations, the Indian EC has said such charges must be substantiated by evidence and pursued through proper process, and using "dirty phrases" like "vote chori" is an "assault on the integrity" of poll staff.

Gandhi, has launched an all-out offensive against the poll body, alleging massive irregularities in the polling at Karnataka's Mahadevapura in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He has accused the poll body of colluding with the BJP to ensure the ruling party's victory.

In its response, the poll body said the concept of "One Person, One Vote" has been written into Indian election law since the country's first general elections.

"If anyone has any proof of any person actually voting twice in any election, it should be shared with ECI with a written affidavit rather than colouring all the electors of India as 'chor' without any proof," the commission said.

Describing "vote chori" as a "dirty word", the poll body said such terms not only defame crores of Indian voters, but also hurt the self-esteem of lakhs of poll officials who work to ensure elections are free and fair. "Dissemination of false reports is a direct attack on the honesty of the electoral process," the commission added.

Following his allegations of vote fraud, the poll body had urged Gandhi to submit an affidavit with details of his allegations.

The Congress leader refused to file any such affidavit, alleging that the poll body is trying to divert the issue. "This is their data. It is not my data that I should sign. It is their data only and has been taken from their website. This is only a move to distract," he said.