In a sharp riposte, the Election Commission of India on Sunday evening slammed Opposition leader and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the controversial ‘Vote chori’ insult which triggered a widespread debate all over the country. The Chief Election Commissioner headlined the much awaited press meet and countered Rahul Gandhi’s claims which he made a few days ago accusing the poll body of tampering the 2024 General Elections to favour the BJP.
Addressing a press meet, CEC Gyanesh Kumar gave a seven day deadline to either submit an affidavit with evidence or tender a public apology stating that all the baseless accusations made by him are false. “An affidavit will have to be given in 7 days or an apology should be made to the country. In the absence of any proofs with the affidavit, it means all the allegations are baseless “, he said during the interaction.
The CEC called Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote chori’ remarks as an insult to the constitution and deserves a public apology to the nation. He also came down heavily for using the Constitutional Body of elections as a launchpad for political motives. He also remarked that politics is being done by targeting the voters of the country by aiming a gun on the shoulder of EC and asserted such threats will not be spared and will be condemned fearlessly.
He also responded on Gandhi’s allegations over double voting and denied that no evidence was provided to support these claims. He said there is no difference between the ruling party and the Opposition party for the commission and underscored that it won’t step back from the constitutional responsibility. He found fault with Gandhi has shared the photos of several voters without their concern which is a breach of the privacy.
The CEC rightly pointed out that more than 1 Crore officials and 20 lakh polling agents work for a Loksabha election and it is impossible for anyone to steal votes in front of so many people. This pushback from the poll body comes after the explosive statements made by Rahul Gandhi a few days ago regarding alleged irregularities in several constituencies of Karnataka MP elections.
