This year’s run-up to the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi launched a wide-ranging campaign alleging “vote chori” (vote theft) tied to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Yet, as the elections unfolded, the pitch struggled to resonate with voters on the ground.
Rahul Gandhi publicly accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating “vote chori” through roll manipulations, deletions and duplicate entries. During public events, he called the SIR exercise in Bihar a “conspiracy to steal the election” and urged voters, especially Gen Z and first-timers, to be vigilant at booths.
Despite the fuel behind the campaign, the Bihar election results suggest the message didn’t fully connect.
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Why the ‘vote-chori’ narrative may have fallen flat
There are several reasons as to why the strategy struggled to make its mark in Bihar’s poll dynamics. First, in rural areas, candidate credibility and local issues mattered more than electoral-roll fears. In rural areas, majorly it’s the candidate that matters, as per poll trends in past years.
Second, the emphasis on alleged irregularities may have alienated voters or appeared abstract compared to bread-and-butter concerns like jobs, agriculture and governance.
Even among communities that could be vulnerable to enfranchisement issues, the “vote-chori” message found little traction. Moreover, the benefits and initiatives offered to locals may have resonated well, leading to this landslide win for the alliance.
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Third, opponents challenged the Congress to present documented proof. The ECI dismissed the allegations, saying the body treats all parties equally and asked for validated evidence. The cloud of confusion may not have turned up in the Congress’ favor.
Finally, the campaign’s timing, running alongside the SIR exercise and amid multiple front-line contests for parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and BJP, meant the opposition message might have been absorbed into a larger electoral noise, rather than standing out.
While the “vote-chori” narrative provided a weaponised talking point for the Congress, it appears to have lacked the uptake needed to shift ground-level voting behaviour in Bihar.
