Political strategist and Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor has, for the first time, commented on Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” (vote theft) allegations against the Election Commission. He argued that instead of demanding an affidavit or an apology from the Congress leader, the Election Commission should have investigated the claims and presented its findings.
Rahul Gandhi vs EC serves no purpose
“What Rahul Gandhi and the Election Commission are saying about each other is not important. What is important is that… the Election Commission should respond to those issues. Whether it is the issue of fake addresses or the issue of new voter addition,” he told news agency ANI.
According to him, turning the matter into a Rahul Gandhi vs Election Commission tussle serves no purpose.
“Rahul Gandhi said in his press conference that the home address is written as zero in front of it. So, many people understand that in Bihar, when there is no house number, you put zero for entry. But Rahul Gandhi has said so many such things, why are you not responding to him?” he asked.
Prashant Kishor on privacy claims
The 48-year-old went on to say, “He is talking about CCTV footage. Why can’t you upload digital data? This is a matter of privacy, and the Election Commission is trying to fool people. You tell me, if you upload data from Form 20, Form 19, Form 6 online, what will happen to privacy?”
Kishor highlighted that the voter list is already in the public domain. “We know who all the voters are. If you make it in a machine-readable form, what will happen to privacy?” he further said, before adding that the current system makes the information unnecessarily difficult to access and analyse.
He also responded to the poll body’s statement that India is a democracy and that voters should not be portrayed as criminals.
“Look, I don’t think that Rahul Gandhi has called the voter a thief. He has accused the Election Commission. The Election Commission is not a voter. The Election Commission is an agency that is responsible for getting voters to vote. As far as I understand, Rahul Gandhi has not called the voter a thief. He has said what is being stolen in that process.”
#WATCH | Saharsa, Bihar: Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor says, "Suppose Rahul Gandhi does not follow the Election Commission's words, what will the Election Commission do? What Rahul Gandhi and the Election Commission are saying about each other is not important. As the leader… pic.twitter.com/vXYwrtrrVC
— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2025
Rahul Gandhi, in a press conference earlier this month, alleged that over one lakh votes had been stolen and that the EC colluded with the BJP to help it win the election.
EC held a press conference yesterday, where it rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress leader. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar termed the claims as “baseless” and added that they are politically motivated. He also took several questions from the reporters and said “next” to the “most burning ones”.
Amid this, Rahul Gandhi began his “Voter Adhikar Yatra” from Sasaram in Bihar today. The 16-day march is aimed at bringing electoral reforms and exposing alleged manipulations in the voter lists. It will culminate in a grand rally in Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan on September 1.