Questioning the neutrality of the Election Commission, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the poll body for asking him to submit an affidavit under oath, declaring instead that he had already sworn allegiance to the Constitution inside the Parliament.
Speaking at the 'Vote Adhikar Rally' in Bengaluru, Gandhi accused the EC of colluding with the BJP in manipulating the Lok Sabha election outcome, and reiterated his claim that the general election had been “stolen”.
“The EC asks me to file an affidavit and give information under oath. I have taken oath inside the Parliament holding the Constitution,” Gandhi said, holding up a copy of the Constitution during his address.
He alleged that websites of state election commissions in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar had been shut down “because they knew that if people started questioning based on data, then their entire structure would collapse”.
Gandhi accused the poll panel of evading accountability and instead threatening the Opposition for raising concerns. “Why are you not giving voter lists in digital machine readable format to the people of India? Why are you destroying video evidence?” he asked, posing a five-point questionnaire to the EC.
“The Government has changed the law to destroy video footage after 45 days. Why? Why is EC behaving like an agent of the BJP?” he demanded.
Calling the data collected by the Congress party over the last six months “evidence of a crime”, Gandhi cited the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka, where, he claimed, over one lakh fake or duplicate voters had been detected. He hinted that similar exercises would be undertaken in 15 to 25 Lok Sabha seats where margins were below 35,000 votes.
Also read: Poll body to Rahul: Sign declaration or face action over claims
Gandhi alleged that the BJP gained from one crore new voters who participated in the Maharashtra Assembly election but did not vote in the Lok Sabha polls. “The votes of our alliance did not reduce… the new voters went to the BJP in the Assembly election,” he said.
He challenged the legitimacy of Narendra Modi’s electoral victory, declaring: “The Prime Minister holds his post by theft. He is a Prime Minister with a margin of just 25 Lok Sabha seats.”
Warning EC officials of accountability, he said, “Neither can you cover up nor can you hide. You will have to face the Opposition one day… Mark my words. Because if you attack the Constitution, then we will attack you.”
Accusing the BJP of subverting democratic institutions and undermining the Constitution, Gandhi alleged, “In the last election, Modi and BJP leaders made an assault on the Constitution. Indian institutions were destroyed.”
He called for the Congress-led Karnataka government to investigate what he termed as “the crime of stealing elections”, and said the EC must answer for its conduct.
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