Congress slams EC, says it stands exposed for bias, inefficiency

The Congress on Sunday alleged the Election Commission was “thoroughly exposed” for both “incompetence and blatant partisanship”, shortly after the poll body criticised the party over its allegations of “vote chori”.

Soon after Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two election commissioners addressed a press conference on the charges raised by the Congress, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the only question that mattered now was whether the poll body would comply with the Supreme Court’s August 14 order on the special revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Ramesh stated, “Today, a short while after Rahul Gandhi launched the INDIA bloc’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ from Sasaram, the CEC and two ECs said they made no distinction between the ruling party and the Opposition. This is laughable, to put it mildly, in the face of evidence to the contrary. Notably, the CEC answered none of the questions raised by Rahul Gandhi meaningfully. What matters now is: Will the ECI implement, in letter and spirit, the SC order on the Bihar SIR process? It is constitutionally bound to do so. The nation is waiting and watching.”

In a post on X, he said, “As far as the CEC’s threats to Rahul are concerned, all that needs to be said is that the LoP had simply stated facts revealed by the EC’s own data. The EC stands thoroughly exposed not only for its incompetence but also for its blatant partisanship.”

Ramesh also dismissed as “laughable” the EC’s assertion that it draws no distinction between the ruling party and the Opposition. Congress leader Pawan Khera also targeted the CEC over his remarks during the press briefing.

In a post on X, he wrote, “Gyanesh Kumar Gupta said in the press conference: ‘What if the name of the same person is recorded in voter lists at multiple places, the vote will still be cast only once.’ Will he submit the same argument before a court on affidavit?”

The war of words between the Congress and the Election Commission erupted hours after Rahul flagged off the “Voter Adhikar Yatra” from Bihar’s Sasaram, where he accused the EC of colluding with the BJP to “steal elections by manipulating voter rolls”.