NEW DELHI, 6 Nov: The Congress will hold flag-off events at all state headquarters across the country on 8 November to mark the culmination of first phase of its ‘Vote chor, gaddi chhod’ campaign against the BJP.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said that so far the Congress has collected over five crore signatures of people expressing their anger and resentment against ‘vote chori’ by the BJP in ‘collusion’ with the Election Commission.
The signatures of people expressing resentment against this “murder of democracy” would be handed over to the president of India later, Venugopal said in a statement.
He said that at a meeting of party general secretaries, PCC presidents, and other office bearers held on Wednesday, it was unanimously decided that the first phase of the campaign will culminate with flag-off events at all state headquarters on Saturday (8 November).
These programmes will be attended by senior leaders and party functionaries, symbolising the collective unity and determination of the Congress party in this national struggle to safeguard democracy, he said.
“So far, over five crore signatures have been collected nationwide – a powerful testimony to the anger, apprehension, and deep concern among ordinary citizens about the naked murder of democracy through manipulative practices such as duplicate voting, fake voter entries, and fraudulent addresses in the electoral rolls,” Venugopal said.
He said the Congress has been consistently raising serious concerns about alleged electoral roll manipulation and electoral “fraud,” undermining the sanctity of India’s democratic process.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has repeatedly exposed the dangerous “vote chori,” saying it is a direct assault on the people’s mandate.
As part of the Congress’ nationwide movement to defend democracy, the party launched the ‘Vote chor, gaddi chhod’ (Vote thief, vacate your seat of power) signature campaign – a public outreach and door-to-door initiative to mobilise citizens against alleged electoral fraud.
Beginning on 15 September, 2025, following the successful culmination of the ‘Vote chor, gaddi chhod’ state-level rallies, the campaign has seen participation of lakhs of citizens across districts, blocks, and mandals, Venugopal said, adding that party functionaries, community leaders, professionals, and the public joined hands to register their protest against this “subversion of democratic norms.”
“After the culmination events, all collected signatures will be dispatched to the AICC headquarters, and in the next phase, the Congress party will continue gathering more signatures from citizens across India.
“Ultimately, these signatures – representing millions of voices – will be submitted to the president of India, demanding urgent corrective action,” he said in his statement.
The Congress leader said that through this campaign, the public has made five clear and democratic demands to the Election Commission of India: Publish a machine-readable voter list with photographs for public scrutiny, release all deletion and addition lists with photographs before every election, and establish a grievance redressal mechanism for wrongful deletions.
He said they have also demanded that the EC announce a clear cut-off date for voter list changes, avoiding last-minute manipulations, and prosecute officials and agents involved in systematic voter suppression.
“The ‘Vote Chor, gaddi chhod’ campaign is not just a political movement – it is a citizens’ movement demanding accountability, transparency, and restoration of faith in the electoral process. The Congress stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of India in this collective call to protect the soul of our democracy,” Venugopal said.
On Wednesday, Gandhi had alleged that the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls were “stolen” and cited electoral roll data to claim that 25 lakh entries were fake and the Election Commission “colluded” with the BJP to ensure its victory.
The “centralised plan” included a Brazilian model whose photograph was used 22 times in 10 booths in the Rai assembly constituency using names such as “Seema, Sweety and Saraswati” for her, the former Congress president said at a press conference during which he put up a presentation ‘The H-files’ to back his claim.
The BJP dismissed the allegation of mass vote theft as “false and baseless” and accused the Congress leader of raising questions on the EC to hide his failures and defame the country’s democracy. The EC officials also trashed the allegation as “unfounded.” (PTI)