Chandigarh— Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sparked a political storm after alleging that the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections were “stolen,” citing examples of voter list discrepancies, including one house in Palwal’s Hodal with 66 voters and another with 501. He also claimed that in Sonipat’s Rai constituency, a stock photo of a Brazilian national was used multiple times on voter rolls to cast fake votes.
However, a ground investigation by The Indian Express revealed that the situation on the ground was different. In Hodal, both addresses Gandhi referred to were found to be large plots of land with several houses and extended families legitimately registered under the same address. Residents confirmed they had all voted in the recent Assembly elections.
At house number 150 in Gudhrana village, the property belongs to BJP zila parishad vice-chairperson Umesh Gudhrana. His uncle, Rajpal Gudhrana, explained that four generations of their family live on the same ancestral land spread over five acres, and all voter IDs bear the same house number. “There is no question of fake voting. Everyone here is family,” Umesh said.
At house number 265, where Gandhi alleged 501 voters were listed, residents said the land once belonged to the Sorout family but has since been divided into numerous plots and sold. Over 200 houses and three schools now stand on the property, with all residents sharing the same house number on their voter IDs. Locals, including new homeowners, confirmed that they have been voting regularly and legitimately from that address.
In Sonipat’s Rai constituency, Gandhi had alleged that the photo of a Brazilian national appeared on voter rolls used 22 times across 10 booths. Reporters traced four women whose photos allegedly matched the foreign national’s image — all said they voted without any issue.
Sweety, a homemaker; Manjeet, 24; and Darshana Joon, 54, said their voting process was smooth. Darshana’s daughter even showed her mother’s original voter ID from 2019 to prove authenticity. Another voter, Pinki, acknowledged a photo mismatch but clarified it was due to a clerical error showing another local woman, not a foreign national.
Local Booth Level Officers (BLOs) denied any knowledge of foreign photos being used and attributed the mix-up to possible data-entry errors from previous years.
Despite Gandhi’s allegations, on-ground evidence suggested no organized voter fraud in the mentioned areas. Congress candidates, including Jai Bhagwan Antil in Rai and Udai Bhan in Hodal, narrowly lost their seats to BJP rivals.
