On Thursday, October 9, 2025, the BJP declared that the electoral fraud allegations made by Rahul Gandhi against the Bihar Special Intensive Review (SIR) of voter rolls have been completely discredited, even by his own alliance partners, the RJD and Congress. The party highlighted that not a single appeal has been lodged by either party in Bihar challenging the newly released electoral rolls by the Election Commission.
Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari stated that the RJD and Congress workers themselves have ‘rejected’ Mr. Gandhi’s claims of vote theft. This announcement came a day after Bihar’s chief electoral officer confirmed that district administrations across the state had not received any appeals regarding deletions or additions in the voter lists.
“This clearly demonstrates that RJD and Congress workers have exposed the hollowness of Mr. Gandhi’s campaign,” Bhandari remarked. “He engaged in false propaganda and opposed the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, but now his own alliance members have confirmed that they found no issues with the process.”
Bhandari reiterated the BJP’s accusation that Gandhi’s campaign was designed to protect infiltrators. He also criticized RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for aligning with the Congress leader’s protest. He further claimed that Rahul Gandhi has now departed for abroad amidst the Bihar elections, having proven to be a ‘flop show’ even in the eyes of his own alliance.
The BJP spokesperson demanded an apology from both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Yadav, questioning whether the Congress leader’s stance, which he suggested supported infiltrators, was guided by a ‘foreign remote control.’ He concluded that Gandhi’s entire campaign was based on falsehood and deception.
Bhandari added that opposition workers in Bihar have recognized that the people of the state support the development agenda spearheaded by ‘2 N’ – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
During his interaction with the media, Bhandari also controversially suggested that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was allegedly responsible for the UPA government’s decision not to retaliate against Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks, attributing it to her ‘vote bank politics.’
He cited remarks from former Home Minister P. Chidambaram in an interview, claiming that government members favored retribution against Pakistan after the horrific 2008 attack, but were allegedly overruled by Sonia Gandhi, who, as Congress president, held more power than then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Bhandari concluded by alleging that the Gandhi family has a history of being lenient on terrorism.