Jitan Ram Manjhi dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ claims, says NDA unfazed

Patna: Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his repeated allegations of large-scale voter fraud, asserting that the NDA pays no attention to such claims and remains confident of electoral success.

Responding to Gandhi’s remarks made on November 5, in which he accused the BJP-led Centre and the Election Commission of India of colluding to manipulate electoral outcomes, Manjhi said the Congress leader’s persistence on the issue reflects political desperation. “No one talks about it anymore except him; he alone keeps talking about vote theft,” Manjhi told IANS.

Gandhi had alleged that “vote chori” was not limited to isolated constituencies like Aland and Mahadevapura but was part of a nationwide effort to subvert democracy and the Constitution. He claimed entire states were being “stolen” through systemic manipulation.

Manjhi dismissed the accusations, criticising Gandhi’s recent visit to Bihar. “He only comes to Bihar to abuse the Prime Minister's mother. Later, when he came here, he saw we were celebrating Chhath Puja and mocked our faith, calling it a 'drama'. That's why we don't pay attention to what Rahul Gandhi says,” he said.

Looking ahead to the Bihar Assembly elections, Manjhi expressed confidence in the NDA’s performance, predicting a win of 80–85 seats in the November 6 polling and a similar outcome on November 11. “We aim to form a government just like the double-engine government we had before,” he added.

(Inputs from IANS)