Voter Fraud Scandal: Haryana Woman's Photo Found on 223 Different Voter IDs in India's Growing Electoral Controversy

Charanjit Kaur, a 75-year-old resident of Haryana, revealed to NDTV that she was unaware of how numerous voter IDs featuring her photograph were created.

New Delhi:

The controversy surrounding Rahul Gandhi's 'H-bomb' allegations continued to unfold Friday as NDTV interviewed another victim of apparent voter fraud. This latest case involves 75-year-old Charanjit Kaur from Dhakola village in Haryana's Ambala district, whose photograph allegedly appeared on 223 different voter ID cards.

Kaur confirmed to NDTV that she only voted once during last year's Assembly election. She expressed confusion when she discovered her photo had been misused on multiple voter cards. "When I went to vote, I noticed the photo on the list was indeed mine, but it was paired with someone else's name," Kaur explained.

"I immediately informed my son about this irregularity," she added.

Her son, Tejinder Singh, who was a candidate in the village sarpanch election, stated that he filed an official complaint regarding his mother's photo being misused across multiple voter lists with incorrect names and addresses. He initially believed it might be a printing error but noted that authorities took no action despite his complaint.

Singh also attributed his electoral defeat to these compromised voting lists.

NDTV's previous investigations revealed significant anomalies in Haryana's voter rolls. In Malikpur village in Sonipat district, several voters, including four members of a single family, inexplicably disappeared from the electoral list. Anjali Tyagi, one such voter, stated she successfully voted in the federal election in April-May last year but was unable to cast her ballot in the state election held just five months later.

This renewed controversy over potential large-scale voter fraud erupted following Rahul Gandhi's Wednesday presentation, during which he highlighted a case where a stock photograph of a Brazilian woman appeared on 22 different voter IDs in Haryana.

Gandhi alleged massive electoral fraud, estimating approximately 25 lakh fraudulent votes in the Haryana election. This election saw the Congress party lose by around 83,000 votes despite initially appearing poised for victory before the BJP's last-minute surge.

"This means one in eight voters in Haryana are fake... 12.5 percent," Gandhi claimed.

Gandhi presented the 'Brazilian woman' case as evidence of systematic fraud. A photograph of Larissa Nery, a Brazilian hairdresser, was discovered on a voter ID issued to someone named Munesh in Haryana's Sonipat district. The same photo reportedly appeared on nearly two dozen other voter IDs under various names, including 'Sweety' and 'Seema'.

The Congress leader emphasized his belief that this was a "centralized operation," stating, "Somebody fed this lady into the list at a centralized level, not at the booth level."

Munesh, when interviewed by NDTV, confirmed she voted only once. "The card I possess has my genuine photo... the one Rahul Gandhi displayed does not. I cast my vote, but I have no knowledge of whose photo appears on the fake card."

In response to these allegations, BJP's Kiren Rijiju criticized Gandhi for raising "fake issues" shortly before voting began in Bihar. "There's nothing left in Bihar, so he's shifting the narrative to Haryana," Rijiju stated.

Election Commission sources pointed out that Congress had not filed any formal appeal or objection during the review of the Haryana election results. These sources dismissed the allegations as baseless and questioned Congress's vigilance during the electoral process.

A video of Larissa Nery has since gone viral, in which she states, "Guys, they are using an old photo of mine. It's an old photo, okay? I was like 18 or 20 years old. I don't know if it's an election or something about voting... And in India. Ah! They're portraying me as Indian to scam people, guys. What madness!"

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