Rahul Gandhi’s Haryana ‘Vote Chori’ Allegations Draw Local Pushback Citing Old Voter ID Misprints

After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged large-scale voter fraud in Haryana elections — including claims that a Brazilian model’s photograph appeared multiple times on voter cards — one of the women named in the controversy has reportedly rejected the allegations, while another woman’s family attributed the issue to a data-entry error.

According to a report by India Today TV, Pinky Juginder Kaushik, whose voter ID card allegedly carried a photo resembling the Brazilian model, said the matter stemmed from an old printing error in her voter identification document.

“I went myself to cast my vote in 2024. There’s no vote chori here,” Pinky told the channel.

“When I had applied for my voter card, it first arrived with a photo misprint, it had the picture of a woman from my village. We immediately returned it, but we still haven’t received a corrected copy. I cast my vote in the 2024 election using my voter slip and Aadhaar card," she added.

She added, “The error must be on the part of the BLO or the election office. How is it my fault? When the mistake first happened, we had already requested rectification.”

Her brother-in-law supported her account, calling the controversy “propaganda” and saying “the mistake wasn’t from our side.”

In a separate case, the brother-in-law of Munish Devi — another woman whose voter card was reportedly linked to the same model’s photo — said the mix-up was due to an error by local data operators.

“This problem had happened once before — Munish’s photo was swapped incorrectly, showing another woman from our village,” he was quoted as saying. “The error is from the data operators, not us.”

He added that Munish and her family voted from their ancestral village of Machroli during the 2024 election.

When asked if the family had sold their vote, he replied firmly, “There’s nothing like that. Even the agents know we came to cast our own votes".

He added that the same problem had happened once before when Munish’s photo was swapped incorrectly, showing another woman from their village.

"She was stopped from voting at first, but when we showed her voter card, they allowed her. The error is from the data operators, not us," he added.

India Today TV reported that both voter IDs had earlier carried photo misprints featuring women from the same village.

On Wednesday (6 November), Rahul Gandhi claimed that around 25 lakh “fake votes” were cast in Haryana’s Assembly election — roughly 12 per cent of the electorate.

He alleged that his team had found over five lakh duplicate entries, including cases where a Brazilian model’s image appeared under multiple names.

The Election Commission has rejected Gandhi’s allegations, stating that no appeals have been filed against the electoral rolls and that only 22 election petitions are pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Also Read: BJP Accuses Rahul Gandhi, Congress Of Undermining Democratic Institutions After Haryana ‘Vote Theft’ Claims