Haryana Congress launches statewide campaign to protect voting rights

The Haryana Congress on Monday announced that it would launch the third phase of its statewide 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao' campaign from November 3 to 25, taking its campaign against alleged electoral irregularities to every village and polling booth across the state.

Haryana Congress in-charge Sanjay Dutt and state unit president Rao Narender Singh said the decision followed what they described as the "unprecedented success" of the Opposition INDIA bloc's rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on Sunday.

The campaign will formally begin from Ladwa, the Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, before expanding to districts, blocks, villages and polling booths across Haryana.

The Congress leaders said the Delhi rally reflected public anger over what they alleged was the BJP's misuse of power and attacks on democratic institutions. They maintained that the gathering demonstrated people's determination to protect their constitutional rights and the integrity of the electoral process.

𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵

Dutt said the Congress would not restrict its campaign to rallies and public meetings but would seek to transform it into a broader movement involving direct public participation.

He said the principal objective was to educate citizens about their constitutional right to vote, encourage public participation in electoral roll verification and establish organisational mechanisms to protect the voting rights of eligible citizens.

"The primary objective of this campaign is to sensitise the common people about their constitutional right to vote, strengthen public participation in ensuring the fairness and transparency of electoral rolls, and establish a robust organisational and mass-movement mechanism to safeguard the vote of every eligible voter," Dutt said.

The party will organise village-level 'chaupals' to engage directly with residents, including youths, women, farmers, labourers and other sections of society.

Congress workers will also conduct outreach programmes to explain procedures relating to voter registration, corrections in electoral rolls and the submission of complaints concerning alleged irregularities.

𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱

As part of the campaign, booth-level agents and Congress workers will scrutinise electoral rolls to identify instances of alleged wrongful deletion of names, non-inclusion of eligible voters and other discrepancies.

Dutt said dedicated teams would be constituted and activated at every polling booth, with clearly defined responsibilities for party workers.

These teams will collect complaints and supporting documents from citizens who believe their names have been incorrectly removed from electoral rolls or who have faced difficulties securing registration.

Party workers will also assist affected voters in initiating appropriate action under prescribed electoral rules and procedures.

The Congress leaders said the exercise was intended to strengthen public participation in maintaining accurate electoral rolls and ensuring that eligible voters were not excluded from the electoral process.

𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗔 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰 𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲

The announcement came a day after the INDIA bloc held a rally in the national capital, where Opposition leaders accused the BJP of engaging in alleged "vote chori" and called for its removal from power.

Addressing the gathering, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi made allegations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and asserted that he would face legal consequences in the future.

Gandhi also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging that they would not be able to evade accountability under the law.

The allegations were made as part of the Opposition's continuing campaign questioning the fairness of electoral processes.

Dutt and Singh said the message delivered at Ramlila Maidan would now be carried to every village, street and polling booth in Haryana.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀

The two leaders maintained that accurate electoral rolls, a fair electoral process and the independent functioning of the Election Commission were essential to safeguarding democracy.

They said the Congress would continue raising concerns over alleged irregularities and seek greater public involvement in electoral oversight.

The party's planned outreach will combine organisational mobilisation with voter assistance, particularly at the booth level, where electoral rolls are maintained and registration-related complaints are addressed.

Dutt and Singh asserted that the Congress would pursue the campaign with determination to protect the voting rights of every eligible citizen and ensure greater transparency in the electoral process.