Gujarat Congress to appoint ‘vote guardians’ at polling booths, hold chaupals ahead of Nov 1 rally

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee will appoint ‘vote guardians’ at every polling booth and organise 'chaupal' meetings to raise awareness about alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, as part of its ‘Save Vote, Save Country’ campaign, the party announced on Sunday.

The announcement was made by state Congress president Amit Chavda at a press conference at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Ahmedabad, attended by former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan.

The party also announced a nationwide rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1, alleging that irregularities in electoral rolls were threatening voters’ rights.

Chavda alleged that the BJP had won elections through vote theft in collusion with the Election Commission and was now organising protests to cover up the alleged irregularities.

He said the Constitution guaranteed every citizen the right to one vote, adding that protecting this right was essential to safeguarding democracy.

“More than 10 lakh people from Gujarat have participated in the ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ signature campaign, supporting the demand to save democracy,” Chavda said.

He cited the Congress’ examination of electoral rolls in the Choryasi Assembly constituency, which falls under the Navsari Lok Sabha constituency represented by Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil.

According to Chavda, verification of 40 per cent of voters in the Assembly segment found that 12 per cent were allegedly fake or suspicious.

"The party had raised the issue on August 30, 2025, claiming that the ratio could indicate more than 60 lakh bogus voters across Gujarat," he said.

Chavda alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission had rejected the claims at the time.

Referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Chavda said: "The Election Commission had reported that 74 lakh of the 5.08 crore voters examined in Gujarat, or 14.61 per cent, were untraceable, deceased, duplicate entries or had migrated."

He claimed the figures supported the Congress’ concerns, alleging that the scale of the discrepancies raised questions about elections won by the BJP in the state since 2002.

Chavan, meanwhile, alleged that electoral rolls in several states contained serious discrepancies, including repeated photographs and inconsistencies in voters’ names.

Referring to findings presented by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, he cited alleged irregularities in Haryana, including the repeated use of a Brazilian actress’ photograph.

Chavan also claimed that the SIR process had resulted in the removal of more than 13 crore names across 30 states.

He criticised the requirements for new voters under Form 6, alleging that young applicants were being asked to provide details of the polling booths where their parents or grandparents had voted in 2003.

"The process risked excluding eligible voters, and transparent verification should ensure that no eligible citizen was wrongly removed from the rolls," he said.

Chavan demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, a transparent appointment process, changes to the law and criminal proceedings against those found guilty of wrongdoing.

The campaign will begin with nationwide press conferences on October 25, followed by the November 1 rally in New Delhi.

Congress said it would continue the agitation through booth-level meetings and other awareness programmes until voters’ rights were protected and public confidence in the electoral process was maintained.

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