Gurugram: The number of below poverty line (BPL) ration cards in Haryana had increased by 12 lakh before the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections and dropped to pre-election levels after, data provided by the Nayab Saini government has revealed.
The data was tabled Monday by Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Rajesh Nagar on the penultimate day of the Haryana Assembly’s winter session in reply to a starred question by Rohtak’s Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra.
In October 2023, there were 39.32 lakh ration cards in Haryana, covering the priority household and Antyodaya Anna Yojana categories. This figure had ballooned to 51.72 lakh cards by October 2024 before the state elections that month—an unprecedented jump of 12.4 lakh in a year. However, by October 2025, barely a year later, the number dropped by 11.03 lakh, and at 40.69 lakh, it once again stood close to the 2023 figure.
A district-wise breakdown of the data by ThePrint revealed the most dramatic surge in Faridabad in a year, with ration cards going up to 3.71 lakh in October 2024 from 2.72 lakh in October 2023. The number, however, was back to 2.64 lakh in October 2025.
Similarly, in Hisar, the ration cards increased from 2.99 lakh to 3.63 lakh, before dropping to 2.95 lakh in the same period. In Gurugram, the cards jumped from 1.65 lakh to 2.07 lakh, before dipping to just 1.22 lakh—the sharpest fall in a year.
Stating that relaxing the ration card eligibility criteria from a monthly family income of Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 1.8 lakh in 2024 led to an increase in ration cards before the elections, MLA Batra questioned how it dropped in 2025, though the criteria remained unchanged.
The Nayab Saini government responded, saying that the ration cards initially were issued based on self-declaration of incomes and that the number came down after it started the income verification process.
The Opposition, though, attacked the government for temporarily providing ration card benefits for votes, with Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda calling it the “biggest electoral manipulation” the state had witnessed.
Speaking to ThePrint, Hooda Tuesday said, “The BJP government gave BPL status to 2.13 crore of Haryana’s 2.8 crore people—just to secure votes. They distributed free ration, like election bribes, and once they won, they snatched away the cards from over 11 lakh families. This is nothing but ‘vote chori’, stealing votes through deception.”
‘Beneficiaries not fake’
Each ration card, on average, is estimated to cover four family members.
On Monday, several Congress legislators demanded an immediate restoration of the cancelled ration cards during Zero Hour in the Haryana assembly.
MLA Batra, who raised the issue, said ordinary families were now struggling to make ends meet after losing access to the free foodgrains they had been receiving for months.
“These weren’t fake beneficiaries. These were real families whose eligibility the government itself certified. If they were eligible in October 2024, why are they suddenly ineligible in October 2025? The only thing that changed was that elections are over,” Batra said, speaking to The Print Tuesday.
The Haryana government has integrated a comprehensive suite of welfare schemes for BPL and AAY cardholders, primarily through the Parivar Pehchan Patra system. Families with a yearly income below Rs 1.80 lakh are entitled to essential food security, including monthly rations of wheat and oil. They also enjoy a Rs five lakh cashless health cover under the Chirayu Haryana scheme.
Beyond basic needs, the state provides financial cushions. These include Rs 6,000 in annual benefits via Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samriddhi Yojana, housing repair with up to Rs 80,000 grants under Dr B.R. Ambedkar Awas Navinikaran Yojana, and monthly social security pensions of Rs 3,000 for eligible persons.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: How BJP tried to use ‘vote chori’ to launch an attack on Congress in Haryana assembly