New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his “voter chori (theft)” allegations. The ECI told the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) to either sign a formal declaration under the law or issue an apology.
“If Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against ECI are true, he should have no problem in signing the Declaration. If Rahul Gandhi does not sign the Declaration, it would mean that he does not believe in his analysis and resultant conclusions and absurd allegations. In which case he should apologise to the nation. Therefore, he has two options: Either sign the Declaration or Apologise to the Nation for raising absurd allegations against ECI,” the Election Commission sources said as quoted by media reports.
Rahul Gandhi's Allegations:
The EC’s remarks came a day after the Congress MP levelled serious allegations against the BJP and the poll body during a dramatic press conference held in Delhi. Explaining his claims using a powerpoint presentation, Gandhi accused the BJP and ECI of “colluding” to “steal” over one lakh votes in a Karnataka constituency.
“EC was colluding with the BJP to steal elections. This is why they don’t give us machine-readable data," he alleged as reported by News18.
Gandhi alleged that his party was ahead in all other assembly areas of Bangalore Central. However, the BJP gained a lead of over one lakh votes in Mahadevapura. Due to this lead, the saffron party won the seat by more than 32,000 votes, the Congress MP claimed.
Earlier on Friday, the Lok Sabha LoP released another video on his X handle and reiterated "vote chori (theft)" claims. In the video, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) again alleged that the Election Commission of India and the BJP had conspired to steal votes.
"Vote theft is not just an electoral scam; it is a major betrayal committed against the Constitution and democracy. Desh ke gunegaar sun lo, waqt badlega, saza jaroor milegi (Let the nation's culprits hear this - times will change, punishment will surely be meted out)," the Congress MP wrote in his X post along with the video.
In his video, Gandhi claimed that votes were stolen in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, apart from Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka, which were highlighted earlier.
