Leader of Opposition (LOP) Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again criticised the Election Commission of India (EC), accusing it of doing “vote chori (vote theft)” for the BJP while claiming that his party had evidence for it.
Following protests by members of the Opposition seeking a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on electoral rolls in Bihar, both houses—the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha—saw adjournments on Friday. Opposition leaders submitted multiple adjournment notices demanding a discussion in both Houses of Parliament. Notices have been given for an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha and under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha.
The protests have disrupted both Houses of Parliament on a daily basis during the ongoing Monsoon session, including in the second week that ended today.
Talking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Gandhi said “we now have an open-and-shut case that the EC is involved in vote theft. I am not saying this lightly. I am saying this with 100 % proof. When we release it, the entire country will come to know that the EC is doing vote theft. The EC is doing it for the BJP. This is an open-and-shut case”. The Congress leader likened the evidence he had to an “atom bomb,” which when explodes, will leave the Election Commission with “no place to hide in the country.”
Gandhi said his party had suspicions of poll irregularities in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, in the Lok Sabha polls, which continued in Maharashtra. “I believe that vote theft has happened at the state level (in Maharashtra). Voter revision had happened, and crore voters were added. Then we went into detail, seeing that the EC is not helping, and decided to dig deep into this
“We got our own investigation done, it took six months and what we have found is an atom bomb. When it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide in the country,” he said.
Gandhi said those involved in the “voter theft” should remember that they will not be spared because they are “working against India.”
EC calles accusations “baseless”, “irresponsible”The EC rejected as “baseless” and “irresponsible” Rahul Gandhi’s accusations of widespread voter fraud. The EC said, “The Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations made every day and, despite the repeated threats, urges all election officials who are working fairly and transparently to disregard such irresponsible remarks,” poll panel was quoted as saying .
