"Chori Chori Chupke Chupke..." Rahul Gandhi shares new video for "vote theft" campaign

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday shared a spoof video inspired by the film Laapataa Ladies, reiterating the Congress's "vote theft" allegations against the Election Commission and urging people to join the 'Vote Chori se Azaadi' campaign. Sharing the video on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote, "Chori chori, chupke chupke... ab or nahi, janta jag gayi hai, (Secretly, stealthily... No more now, the public has awakened)." The video shows a middle-aged man at a police station submitting a theft complaint. When asked by a policeman, "What has been stolen?" the man hesitates before replying, "Vote." The policeman reacts in shock and asks, "How's this possible?" The video ends with the message, "Theft of your vote is theft of your right." The clip is based on a scene in Laapataa Ladies where a husband goes to the police station to report that his wife has been exchanged.

This comes after Congress announced the launch of the 'Vote Chori se Azaadi' campaign, asking people to join the movement against alleged "vote theft" by the Election Commission and the BJP. Earlier, the Congress party in a post on X urged people to change their display picture (DP) on social media to support the campaign. "On the occasion of Independence Day, join the campaign for freedom from 'vote theft'. Change your WhatsApp DP," the post said. On August 14, ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi also announced the launch of the "Voter Adhikar Yatra" against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He appealed to people to "join this people's movement." "From August 17, with #VoterAdhikarYatra, we are launching a direct fight against vote theft from the soil of Bihar," Gandhi said in a post on X.

He added, "This is not just an election issue - it is a decisive battle to protect democracy, the constitution, and the principle of 'one man, one vote.' We will ensure a clean voter list across the entire country. Youth, workers, farmers - every citizen, rise and join this people's movement. This time, the defeat of vote thieves - the victory of the people, the victory of the constitution." On August 7, Rahul Gandhi had also criticised the Election Commission of India, saying elections are "choreographed". Presenting Congress's research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka, he alleged the theft of 1,00,250 votes. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has repeatedly asked Rahul Gandhi to submit a signed declaration to back up his claims of "vote theft".