On 07 August 2025, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, held a press conference and alleged that manipulation and ‘vote chori’ (theft) had taken place in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On 11 August 2025, nearly 300 Opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, marched from parliament to the Election Commission office over the ‘vote chori’ allegations and alleged voter roll manipulation in Bihar. Several MPs were detained by the police during this protest march. Opposition parties also staged protests in several parts of India. In this context, a set of visuals showing two different protests is going viral on social media platforms, with the claim that they show ‘vote chori’ protests held across India after Rahul Gandhi’s allegations (here, here). Through this article, let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of ‘vote chori’ protests held across India following Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ claims.
Fact: These viral visuals are not related to the ‘Vote Chori’ protests. The first video shows a protest held by Durg district Congress members in May 2025 regarding the implementation of the MNREGA scheme. The second video shows a candle march held in Delhi, in December 2024 against the implementation of normalisation in the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) Examination. While ‘vote chori’ protests were indeed held, these videos are unrelated. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To ascertain the details of these viral visuals, we conducted a Google reverse image search using the keyframes from the viral videos. Reverse image searching the first video clip led us to a video posted on Instagram in May 2025. According to the caption, the video shows a protest held by Durg district Congress members in May 2025 regarding the implementation of the MNREGA scheme.
On further search, we found an extended version of the video. In this version, a board can be seen on an e-rickshaw moving through a crowd, with the words “Majdooron ko MNREGA mein rozgar karega” (labourers will have to be given employment in MNREGA) written on it. This makes it clear that the protest was unrelated to the ‘vote chori’ issue.
We then conducted a relevant keyword search and found multiple news reports (here, here) about this protest held in Durg, Chhattisgarh, in May 2025. According to these reports, the demonstration was led by District Rural Congress President Rakesh Thakur in Durg, Chhattisgarh, demanding sufficient employment for labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). While marching from Rajiv Bhawan to the Durg Collector’s Office, the protesters also passed by the BJP office, raising slogans. We also found videos related to this protest on the Facebook pages of Durg District Rural Congress President Rakesh Thakur and former Durg City MLA Arun Vora (here, here).
Reverse image search of the second video clip led us to a video posted on the YouTube channel of ‘India News Bihar Jharkhand’ in December 2024. According to its description, it shows a candle march held in Delhi in December 2024 against the implementation of normalisation in the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination. Several others (here, here, and here) also shared this video in December, claiming it showed protests against the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) in Delhi. In December 2024, protests were indeed held in Patna, Bihar (here, here, here, and here).
To sum it up, these viral visuals are not related to the ‘vote chori’ protests.
