‘Vote gone, rights gone’: Rahul Gandhi Warns Voter ID May Determine Govt Scheme Benefits, Not Aadhaar

Rahul Gandhi has accused the Modi government of linking welfare benefits to Voter ID, alleging that SIR-related deletions could disenfranchise voters and eventually restrict access to essential schemes.

Post Published By: Pradeep Tripathi
Updated : 6 November 2026, 3:41 PM IST
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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has warned that in the coming days, welfare scheme benefits will be linked to voter identity cards, not Aadhaar. He said that the move could be part of a larger plan to influence elections and deny people their democratic rights.

In a social media post, he linked the alleged move to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, accusing the government of using the exercise to remove names from voter lists. His post came after Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh's announced that instead of Aadhaar, voter ID cards would be used for identification of beneficiaries of social welfare programmes under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. He attached a video of the Union Minister with his post.

Rahul Gandhi Questions SIR Exercise

Congress leader alleged that millions of names were being deleted from electoral rolls under the SIR exercise, with people opposed to the BJP being particularly targeted. In his post, he also raised questions over the neutrality of the Election Commission. He said that the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is working in collusion with the ruling party.

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He said that the linking of the welfare benefits to voter lists could create a situation in which people whose names were deleted would also lose access to government schemes.

Warns Of Wider Impact On Welfare Schemes

Warning of the possible consequences, Rahul Gandhi questioned whether the proposed arrangement could eventually affect access to ration, pensions, MGNREGA employment, housing, scholarships and reservation benefits.

"Name struck—vote gone. Vote gone, rights gone," he wrote, arguing that voting was a constitutional right and should not become a condition for receiving government assistance.

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Calling the alleged move an attempt at "rights theft", Gandhi said his party would oppose it. He maintained that a poor person's pension or access to welfare benefits should never depend on their voter ID.

Location :  New Delhi

Published :  6 November 2026, 3:31 PM IST

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