Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah (File photo)

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday underlined what it called the “irony” of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah joining Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar against alleged “vote chori” (vote theft), recalling that the Congress leader himself had once accused the party of stealing votes.In a video being circulated by the BJP, Siddaramaiah is seen talking about his defeat in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, which he contested on Janata Dal ticket. In the clip, the veteran leader claimed that he lost to Congress’ Basavaraj Patil Anwari due to “vote chori” by the grand old party.Siddaramaiah went on to join the Congress in 2006.“The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah is in Bihar for a ‘Vote Adhikar’ rally—marching with the same Congress he once accused of electoral fraud in the 1991 Koppal Lok Sabha polls against Basavraj Patil Anwari,” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya posted on X.“Back then, he (Siddaramaiah) cried ‘vote chori’ because he lost on ballot papers. Today, Rahul Gandhi, the political dynast, is crying wolf about ‘electoral fraud’ only because the people of India have decisively thrown the Congress out of power through the democratic process and the unhackable EVMs,” he added.Malviya also described the Voter Adhikar Yatra as a “masterclass in hypocrisy.”Gandhi, the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition, has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP of “colluding” to tilt elections in the saffron party’s favour. The Raebareli MP has claimed that the BJP “stole” the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra, as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the ECI’s help. The 16-day Voter Adhikar Yatra in poll-bound Bihar, in which Siddaramaiah is also participating, will conclude on September 1 with a mega rally in Patna.