Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday levelled grave allegations against the Election Commission, claiming the poll body was “colluding with the BJP to carry out vote chori openly” through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Speaking at the conclusion of the first day of his Voter Adhikar Yatra, which began in Sasaram earlier in the afternoon, Gandhi declared that he was not afraid of EC officials. He alleged that while he was asked to file an affidavit after his press conference exposing “vote chori”, no such requirement was imposed on BJP leader Anurag Thakur when he made similar claims in his own presser.
“The EC declared living people dead, those who have voted in previous polls, their names have been deleted. I asked a person why your name was removed, he said there is an order from above, whose order, Narendra Modi and EC. They have deleted the votes of 65 lakh people, why? Because they want to help Adani and Ambani, they want to steal your money,” Gandhi told the crowd, as quoted by news agency PTI.
‘Law Changed to Protect Election Commissioners’: Rahul Gandhi
The Leader of Opposition alleged that the Modi government changed the law in 2023 to ensure election commissioners could not be held accountable.
“Do you know that no case can be initiated against the election commissioner. In no court in India can there be a case against the election commissioner. This law was made in 2023. Why was this law made? It was made because Narendra Modi and Amit Shah want to ensure that no one can take any action against the EC as it is helping them and is indulging in voter chori along with them,” he said.
He also questioned why the government altered rules regarding CCTV footage of election processes. “Today they (EC) held a press conference. I want to ask them why did the government change the law on CCTV footage of election process,” Gandhi said.
‘INDIA Bloc Will Not Allow Vote Theft’: Rahul Gandhi
Gandhi maintained that the INDIA bloc would resist any attempt at “vote chori” in Bihar, framing the issue as a battle to defend the Constitution drafted by B. R. Ambedkar and the principle of “one person, one vote”.
He alleged that after taking away land and resources, the government was now attempting to deprive citizens of their last possession—the right to vote. “The EC is doing this openly. They say ‘we will delete voters and not show you the voter list’. But we will show you the power of the people of Bihar,” he told the gathering.
“Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the people of EC must hear this, neither am I scared of you nor Tejashwi Yadav and Bihar. We will put forward the truth of vote chori before everyone,” he asserted.
Later, Gandhi posted on X in Hindi, saying: “EC declared living people dead. EC also removed from the voter list those people who had just voted in the Lok Sabha elections. EC once again refused to give digital, machine-readable voter rolls. EC is now making excuses after excuses for not giving CCTV footage. Earlier vote theft was done stealthily, now it is being done openly in the name of SIR.”
Rahul Gandhi Reiterates Allegations On Maharashtra, Karnataka Polling
Gandhi recalled similar concerns in Maharashtra, where, according to him, “while we won the Lok Sabha polls, just four months later the BJP swept the assembly polls”.
“When we investigated, we found that between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, one crore voters were added by the Election Commission through magic,” he said, adding that wherever new voters were listed, the BJP secured victories.
“Our votes did not go down and remained the same. The BJP got all the new votes. We asked the EC to explain to us where did these one crore voters come from but they refused. We asked them to give CCTV footage and they refused. We asked for machine-readable voter list but they refused,” he said.
Gandhi claimed his team selected the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat for deeper scrutiny and examined one assembly segment over four months. “We took four months and found out that the Bangalore Central seat was stolen by the BJP and and EC,” he alleged, claiming that one lakh fake voters were uncovered.
“EC asks me to submit an affidavit but when Anurag Thakur says the same thing that I have said, it does not ask for an affidavit from him,” Gandhi added.
CEC Denies Allegations, Calls Them Baseless
Meanwhile, in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar held a press conference to respond to the opposition’s charges. He said the purpose of electoral roll revision was to remove deficiencies and ensure accuracy.
“It is a matter of grave concern that some parties are spreading misinformation about it and firing from the EC’s shoulder,” he remarked.
Rejecting allegations of double voting and “vote theft”, Kumar insisted these were “baseless” and maintained that the Special Intensive Revision process was being conducted transparently with the participation of all stakeholders.
