Vote chori anti-national; BJP, EC in cahoots: Rahul Gandhi

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday described the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the alleged vote theft through it as the “biggest anti-national act” which, he said, was destroying the fabric of India.

Participating in a discussion on electoral reforms in the House, which ultimately veered towards the controversial SIR — currently taking place in nine states and three union territories — Rahul alleged large-scale irregularities in voter rolls and a lack of transparency in the election process.

He questioned the integrity of voter lists in states such as Haryana and Bihar, saying there were “lakhs and lakhs of duplicate voters”, and reiterated his claim about a “Brazilian woman” appearing “22 times” on the rolls in Haryana.

As soon as the Congress MP mentioned about the Brazilian woman, all party MPs sitting behind him started waving her photographs, which was objected to by Speaker Om Birla. Looking at his colleagues, Rahul said he does not support this.

The Raebareli MP also accused the Election Commission of India of evading accountability, and remarked that “vote chori is an anti-national act”.

He also went on to warn the poll body that the Opposition would “change the law retroactively” and “come and find you”.

Rahul posed three questions and made four demands while accusing the BJP and the EC of hatching a conspiracy to steal the mandate in the elections.

“Everything in India that exists today has emerged from the vote, and the RSS is trying to capture that,” he alleged.

“Today, the EC is colluding with those in power to shape elections,” Rahul said.

“I want to ask three questions which will make it clear that the BJP is directing and using the EC to damage India’s democracy,” he said.

“Why was the CJI removed from the selection panel for election commissioners (ECs)? Why did the government grant unprecedented immunity to the ECs in December 2023? Also, why is the CCTV footage of polling stations destroyed after 45 days,” Rahul sought to know, warning that the Congress would change the law retroactively. Home Minister Amit Shah was also present in the House.

Rahul demanded that machine-readable voter lists should be given to all parties a month before the elections, and asked the government to take back the law that allows destruction of CCTV footage after 45 days. Rahul also sought to know the “architecture of EVMs” and called for access to the EVMs. Finally, he called for a change in the law that gives the ECs immunity while they are on the post.

“They (ECs) are under the impression that this law will allow them to get away but that is not the case as we will change the law and do it retroactively,” the former Congress president said.

Rahul said there was “institutional capture” of the EC that directly “controls the election system of our country”.

“I have given proof of how the EC is colluding with those in power to shape elections,” he said.

Accusing the RSS of capturing institutions of the nation, he alleged, “The project of the RSS was to capture the institutional framework of the country... A Vice Chancellor is placed not on merit, not on capability, not on scientific temper, but on the fact that he belongs to a particular organisation. The second capture, which helps in destroying democracy is that of the intelligence agencies. The capture of the CBI, of the ED, of the Income Tax Department. And the systematic placement of bureaucrats who favour their ideology and attack the Opposition and anybody who chooses to oppose the RSS.”