The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday accused Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of allowing “foreign hands” to script the Opposition’s vote chori (vote theft) narrative, citing metadata linked to documents uploaded on his website.

At a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that PDFs uploaded on Rahul Gandhi’s official website following his August 7, 2025, press conference were not created in India.

“Metadata of all three PDFs—released in English, Hindi, and Kannada—shows Myanmar timezone (+6:30 MMT). These files were exported via Adobe Illustrator and shared through Google Drive. Metadata remains intact, exposing that these so-called evidences weren’t made in India,” Bhandari alleged.

Questioning Gandhi’s credibility, he said: “Who was the ‘foreign boss’ driving Rahul Gandhi’s remote control? His own toolkit exposes how foreign hands are scripting India’s Opposition narrative. Rahul Gandhi, Congress & his entire coterie is very dangerous for democracy.”

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla echoed the charge, suggesting that Gandhi was acting under external influence.

“The press conference may have spoken about Bharat, but the documents were made outside Bharat, in Myanmar. The question is—was the script for India’s Opposition being written elsewhere? Is Rahul Gandhi being played like a puppet by a foreign hand?” Poonawalla asked.

The Congress has not yet issued a response to the allegations.

The ‘vote theft’ campaign

Rahul Gandhi and the Congress-led INDIA bloc have in recent weeks mounted a campaign alleging large-scale “vote theft” during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP-led NDA returned to power with a decisive mandate.

The Opposition has accused the ruling party of manipulating electronic voting machines (EVMs), tampering with counting procedures, and exerting pressure on election officials.

On August 7, Gandhi held a press conference to unveil documents he claimed were “evidence” of irregularities, releasing them in multiple languages through his official website.

The BJP has strongly denied these charges, calling them an attempt to delegitimize the electoral process and undermine public faith in democratic institutions.

Thursday’s allegations over metadata are the latest in a series of political clashes between the ruling party and the Opposition over the fairness of elections in India.