NEW DELHI – Following allegations by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of large-scale voter fraud in Haryana, a woman whose voter ID was displayed during the controversy has come forward to deny any wrongdoing. Speaking exclusively to India Today TV, Pinky Juginder Kaushik called the “vote chori” (vote theft) allegations baseless, stating she cast her ballot personally.
The controversy erupted after Rahul Gandhi claimed a Brazilian model’s photograph was used on multiple voter cards to cast fraudulent votes.
“I Voted Myself”
Pinky Juginder Kaushik, one of the women whose electoral card was implicated, explained that her voter ID has had a photo misprint for a long time.
“I went myself to cast my vote in 2024. There’s no vote chori here,” Pinky asserted. “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 placed the blame on administrative errors, adding, “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 echoed her sentiments, dismissing the claims as “propaganda.”
A Pattern of Errors
India Today TV also spoke with the family of Munish Devi, another woman whose voter card was allegedly linked to the model’s photo. Her brother-in-law confirmed that Munish cast her own vote and that the family had previously dealt with a photo-swap error on her card.
“This problem had happened once before; Munish’s photo was swapped incorrectly, showing another woman from our village,” he explained. “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.”
In both cases, the investigation by India Today TV found that the voter IDs had previous photo misprints featuring other women from the same village.
Rahul Gandhi’s Fraud Allegations
Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that approximately 25 lakh “fake votes,” constituting about 12% of Haryana’s electorate, were cast in the state’s Assembly election. He claimed this widespread “vote chori” was the reason the Congress party lost an election it was projected to win decisively.
He detailed findings from his team, which he said uncovered over five lakh duplicate voter entries. This included the sensational claim that a Brazilian model’s photo was used under names like “Seema,” “Sweety,” and “Saraswati” to cast ballots 22 times.
However, the Election Commission has dismissed Gandhi’s claims, stating that no appeals were filed against the state’s electoral rolls. The commission also noted that only 22 election petitions are currently pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.