Congress has ‘atom bomb’ of evidence on vote theft and when it explodes, EC wont have a place to hide, says Rahul Gandhi

Alleging ‘vote theft’ by the poll body at the behest of the BJP, the Congress leader warns officials that they won’t be spared for being ‘involved’ in such manipulation; EC says it is ‘deplorable’ that its staff are being threatened

Accusing the Election Commission of being involved in “vote chori” (vote theft), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that his party has discovered evidence that would leave the poll body with “no place to hide”. He also compared the evidence in their possession to an “atom bomb”.

Mr. Gandhi asserted that it was an “open and shut case” and accused the poll panel of “stealing votes for the BJP”. He also held out a warning to EC officials that they will not be spared as they were working against the country.

“I want to say that the persons in the EC doing this -- right from the top to the bottom – we won’t spare. You are working against India and this is treason. Not matter where you are, retired or otherwise, we will find you,” the Congress leader said.

He claimed his party had suspicions of irregularities in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election in 2023 and in the Lok Sabha election last year, and this went further in Maharashtra.

“We believe that vote theft has happened at the State level (in Maharashtra). Voter revision had happened and one crore voters were added. Then we went into detail, and with the EC not helping, decided to dig deep into this,” he said.

“We got our own investigation done, it took six months and what we found is an atom bomb. When it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide anywhere in the country,” he added.

Responding to Mr. Gandhi, the EC accused him of making “wild allegations” and said it was “deplorable” that the Opposition leader had started threatening the poll panel and its staff.

“The Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis, and despite the daily threats being given, asks all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements and work in a fair and transparent manner,” a senior EC official said.

The sharp exchanges came on a day when leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc submitted a joint letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding a discussion on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The issue also forced multiple disruptions in the Lok Sabha as Opposition members trooped into the well of the House with placards in their hands. Eventually, the House was adjourned for the day without transacting any business.

“I have said vote chori is happening and now we have open-and-shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in vote chori. I am not saying this lightly. I am saying this with 100% proof. As soon as we release it, the whole country would know that the EC is indulging in vote chori. It is doing it for the BJP,” Mr. Gandhi alleged, speaking to reporters within the Parliament complex.

On a day when the EC published its draft electoral rolls for Bihar, the Opposition intensified its campaign against the SIR, alleging the EC’s exercise was aimed at “disenfranchising voters” ahead of the Assembly election.

INDIA bloc leaders protested outside the Parliament and also wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker, urging him to schedule a special discussion on the ongoing voter list revision in Bihar without any further delay.

On Thursday, the Congress had said it will expose the “outrageous rigging of voter rolls” by the Karnataka Election Commission on August 5 and general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said the party has planned a massive protest in Bengaluru led by Mr. Gandhi.