Onus on ECI to clear the air on ‘vote theft’

LED by Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition is sticking its neck out in a bid to corner the Election Commission of India (ECI). Even as the Congress and other parties continue to oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Rahul has accused the poll panel of committing vote theft in league with the BJP during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He has given the example of Karnataka’s Mahadevapura Assembly constituency, where around one lakh votes were allegedly stolen, leading to an ‘unexpected’ defeat for the grand old party. Rahul has also mentioned the modus operandi — duplicate voters, fake or invalid addresses, 50-60 people recorded as living at a single address, etc.