Politics

Rahul Gandhi’s “H-Files” under scrutiny: The Indian Express investigates the Haryana ‘vote theft’ claims

In his explosive “H-Files” presentation, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the recent Haryana Assembly election was “stolen,” claiming that nearly 25 lakh votes were fake and that one in eight votes cast was fraudulent. He cited examples of voter list manipulation, including repeated use of the same photographs, hundreds of voters registered under a single address, and even images of foreign nationals appearing on Indian voter rolls.

To verify these claims, The Indian Express conducted an independent on-ground investigation across several of the locations highlighted by Gandhi, including the constituencies of Hodal and Rai. The findings, published in an article titled “No theft here: These names Rahul flagged have voted, with valid address and ID card,” suggest a more nuanced picture.

In Hodal, the publication visited homes allegedly listed with abnormally high numbers of voters, such as a “house number 150” said to have 66 voters, and another numbered “265” with 501 voters. Reporters discovered that these numbers referred not to single dwellings but to large family plots subdivided into multiple homes. Many extended families used the same house number for official records, explaining the unusually high voter counts.

In Rai, where Gandhi’s team claimed a Brazilian model’s photograph appeared on the rolls under several Indian names, The Indian Express met with four of the women whose entries were flagged. All four confirmed that they were legitimate voters, had valid voter ID cards, and had cast their ballots in person. The mismatch in photographs, while concerning, did not automatically indicate that votes were cast fraudulently or duplicated.

While the investigation by The Indian Express casts doubt on the scale and conclusiveness of Gandhi’s “vote theft” charge, it also reinforces a larger concern that underpins his argument, the integrity of India’s electoral rolls and the need for rigorous verification systems. The discrepancies, even if not constituting deliberate fraud, point to a possible breakdown in data management and voter record maintenance.

A fair conclusion would therefore balance both perspectives. The Indian Express has shown that many of the most dramatic examples cited in the “H-Files” may not hold up as evidence of outright theft. Yet, this has successfully drawn national attention to the urgent issue of electoral transparency and the need for stronger checks against duplication and error in voter databases.

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