Bengaluru, August 8: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, reiterated his allegations of "vote theft" by the BJP and the Election Commission of India (ECI) during the 'Vote Adhikaar Rally' held in Bengaluru on Friday. He demanded that the ECI immediately release voter lists and video recordings from the past 10 years.
“BJP’s ideology is against the Constitution of India. Every Congress leader and worker is committed to defending it,” Gandhi declared. “The Election Commission should immediately provide the voter lists and video recordings from the last decade.”
Reinforcing his claims of electoral malpractice, Gandhi said the Congress and its allies were unfairly defeated in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election due to rigging.
“In the Lok Sabha election, our alliance performed strongly and won a significant number of seats. But just four months later, the BJP won the Maharashtra assembly election—this came as a shock,” he said. “Upon further investigation, we discovered that one crore new voters had participated. The BJP won wherever these new voters appeared. Our vote share remained steady, but these additional votes went entirely to the BJP. That’s when we knew something wasn’t right.”
Gandhi claimed that in a press conference held the previous day, he had "100% proven" that the BJP and the Election Commission were involved in vote manipulation.
He also referred to polling data from Karnataka ahead of the recent Lok Sabha election. “Our internal polls showed us leading in 16 seats, but we ended up winning only nine. That led us to question the outcome. We approached the Election Commission for the voter list and CCTV footage, but received no cooperation. Instead, they changed the rules regarding video access,” he alleged.
Highlighting the importance of constitutional values, Gandhi said, “We have protected the Constitution of India. The voices of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Patel resonate through it. So do the voices of Basavanna, Narayana Guru, and Jyotiba Phule. The Constitution grants every citizen the fundamental right to vote.”
In response to Gandhi’s accusations, sources in the Election Commission said on Friday that he should either sign a declaration from the Chief Electoral Officers of Maharashtra and Karnataka affirming the integrity of the elections, or issue an apology for his "absurd" claims.
“If Rahul Gandhi stands by his analysis and genuinely believes in his allegations, he should have no hesitation in signing the declaration,” an ECI source stated.
(With agency inputs)
