Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 5: All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary G.A. Mir today said the party is aiming to collect 5 crore signatures across the country to petition the President of India on alleged “Vote Chori.”
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Speaking to reporters at Omoh, Verinag in South Kashmir’s Anantnag after inaugurating the signature drive to curb “electoral malpractices”, Mir added that the campaign has made people more aware and sensitive about their voting rights.
Mir said the campaign, running from September 15 to October 15, seeks to stop what he described as the theft of votes “orchestrated through collusion” between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP.
He alleged that under various arrangements, 65 lakh votes have already been cut in Bihar, calling it “a murder of democracy.”
“We are aiming for 5 crore signatures to present the petition to the President. Our campaign has made people aware of the importance of their vote and sensitized them to the protection of electoral rights-a first since Independence,” he said.
He further alleged that in several places, votes are being deleted or added, and voters are being prevented from reaching polling booths.
“Vote Chori is a crime, a blot on democracy, and a direct assault on the electoral rights of people.”
He said that LoP Rahul Gandhi has exposed the system of manipulation, including deletion of genuine voters and registration of fake votes, “as seen in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and now Bihar under SIR.”
Mir said the Congress, under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, will continue to fight the “ECI-BJP nexus” to preserve voter identity and electoral rights.
“Powerful start to the Signature Campaign against ‘Vote Chori’ today in Doru Constituency, Anantnag! Hundreds of committed workers joined from my own polling booth to safeguard our democracy. Every signature counts! We won’t let our voices be stolen,” Mir wrote on social media.
MLA Nizam Ud Din Bhat also addressed the gathering, calling the signature campaign “indigenous” and describing it as a people’s movement launched by Rahul Gandhi.
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