The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha made the remarks during Tuesday’s closed-door Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Gandhi is learnt to have told colleagues that some CWC members had not fully backed him and should “start believing” in him.
Gandhi referred to an earlier meeting with Modi and Shah in which, according to his account to the CWC, he was asked whether he had a problem with the BJP. He said he replied that he was doing what was best for his party. Gandhi told colleagues that Modi and Shah responded that if the BJP lost power, Congress would replace it.
The account of that exchange has not been publicly confirmed by Modi or Shah. Gandhi used it internally to question why some Congress leaders remained doubtful about his “vote chori”, or vote theft, campaign when, as he characterised the conversation, the BJP’s two most senior leaders regarded Congress as its eventual successor in government.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge intervened during the discussion to assure Gandhi that the party leadership stood behind him on the electoral issue. Gandhi responded that colleagues should not fall too far behind, while Kharge said the entire party would walk with him, according to accounts of the meeting.
The exchange came as the CWC escalated its confrontation with the government and the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The committee demanded the resignations of Modi, Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, suspension of the revision exercise and restoration of names it says were removed from voter lists.
Those demands are political claims and have been rejected by the BJP, which has accused Congress of attacking constitutional institutions when election outcomes do not favour it. BJP general secretary Smriti Irani questioned whether Congress was selectively challenging the Election Commission while accepting its functioning in states where opposition parties had performed well.
The Election Commission has also defended its procedures. It has said differing views and observations among election commissioners are a normal feature of institutional deliberations, while maintaining that its orders have legal sanction and follow established procedures.
Gandhi told the CWC that the party’s sustained focus on alleged electoral manipulation had altered the political atmosphere over the past two years. He argued that questions raised by Congress over elections in Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra, initially met with scepticism by some within the party, had gained wider attention.
He also urged Congress to combine “virodh”, or opposition, with “pratirodh”, or resistance, from Parliament to the streets. His intervention was intended both to reinforce the party’s campaign against alleged electoral malpractice and to address internal doubts over the political course he has pursued.
The CWC resolution echoed Gandhi’s position, saying concerns he had raised had developed into a broader demand for transparency and accountability. It accused the Election Commission and the government of compromising electoral integrity, allegations both institutions contest.
The immediate dispute has intensified following disclosures that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections on multiple occasions to aspects of the voter-roll revision process. The Election Commission subsequently announced measures addressing several concerns, including a review of voter-roll software and procedural changes intended to make verification easier for voters.
Congress leaders also discussed how to carry the campaign forward. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra favoured building public pressure over the demand for Kumar’s resignation, while Kumari Selja argued that the party should prepare its next steps if the Chief Election Commissioner remained in office.
