Overview
- At rallies in Banka and Bhagalpur, Rahul Gandhi claimed some BJP leaders who voted in Delhi also cast ballots in Bihar’s first phase, as AAP named Rakesh Sinha and Santosh Ojha and Sinha said he lawfully shifted his registration and shared Election Commission paperwork.
- Gandhi reiterated his ‘H Files’ allegation that Haryana’s rolls carried about 25 lakh fake or duplicate entries and cited contested examples including a Brazilian woman’s image, which the woman said was an old photo used without her knowledge.
- The BJP rejected the accusations as baseless, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the roughly 65% turnout in Bihar’s first phase as proof of trust in the NDA while praising the Election Commission’s conduct.
- Following the attack on Bihar deputy chief minister Vijay Sinha’s convoy, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar directed the state DGP to take immediate action and warned of strict measures against offenders.
- With Bihar’s second phase set for November 11 and counting on November 14, Congress leaders in Haryana announced statewide protests over alleged ‘vote theft’ and pressed for independent scrutiny of electoral rolls.