Latest In 'Vote Theft' Blame Game: BJP Says Pawan Khera Has Two Voter Cards

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged on Tuesday that Congress leader Pawan Khera holds two voter identity cards. The party's leaders claimed that Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi was running his election campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on voter rolls in Bihar to “protect and hide” his own party’s 'vote thefts'.

Khera holds the position of media department head within the Congress, and is among top party leaders, close to Rahul Gandhi. In an X post, BJP leader and head of its 'IT Cell', Amit Malviya, highlighted Khera’s “proximity to the Gandhis”. He said that the Election Commission should now investigate how Khera “holds two active EPIC numbers, and whether he voted multiple times”. EPIC is the Electors Photo Identity Card, which is supposed to be unique to each voter and no voters is allowed to hold more than one valid EPIC.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari addressed a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi, reiterating the claim of 'voter theft', and said “Rahul Gandhi and his close associates are chor (thieves) and making shor (noise).”

He also claimed that Congress is running a voter fraud racket, questioning the alleged inclusion of Rahul Gandhi's mother Sonia Gandhi’s name in the electoral roll of 1980. Bhandari (rhetorically) asked Gandhi if he would take any action against Khera for allegedly holding multiple voter IDs.

Khera responded to the flurry of charges, saying that the Congress party has been unable to access the list of voters in Bihar despite numerous requests, even though the claims now being made by BJP leaders made it apparent that its leaders as well as the Election Commission had such a list.

He reiterated his party's demand for CCTV footage from the Election Commission to demonstrate “who is being made to cast vote from New Delhi constituency”. He clarified that he had moved out of the constituency in 2016, following the procedure to have his name deleted.

The BJP's allegations and Congress's counter to them have surfaced a day after Rahul Gandhi concluded a 1300-km 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar, raising concerns over the SIR process. Gandhi lately declared that BJP leaders should prepare for a “hydrogen bomb”, meaning explosive disclosure, on the reality of vote chori or voter theft, following which Prime Minister Narendra "Modi ji will not be able to show his face to the country".

It's unclear what Rahul Gandhi was alluding to. The recent Yatra has become a high-stakes political gambit, with the BJP claiming it is cleaning up old and incorrect voter records, and the Congress claiming it is exclusionary. Recently, the ECI decided to extend the last date for voters to appeal their exclusion in Bihar's SIR, while the Supreme Court had earlier said that it would intervene in the process if it became exclusionary. It is reported that 65 lakh voters in Bihar could not renew their registration on the voter rolls during the SIR exercise, though the reasons for each exclusion have not been made public.

(With inputs from PTI and TOI.)