Rahul invokes Gen Z over 'vote theft', draws BJP ire

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday reiterated his allegations of 'vote chori' against the Election Commission (EC) even as his post on the nation’s Gen Z "defending the Constitution" evoked a sharp reaction from the BJP.

Rahul called the EC an "election watchman who stayed awake, watched the theft, and protected the thieves". Accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of shielding those responsible for "subverting democracy", he demanded that the poll panel hand over information sought by the Karnataka CID in its probe into alleged deletion of voters.

The Congress leader cited details of alleged attempts to delete 6,018 votes in Karnataka’s Aland constituency ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. He also pointed to Maharashtra’s Rajura constituency, where he claimed 6,850 names were added “fraudulently” with the help of software.

Rejecting the charges as incorrect and baseless, the EC said: “No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi.”

A day earlier, drawing parallels with Nepal's movement, the Leader of Opposition invoked the role of young voters, saying, “The nation’s youth, the nation’s students and the nation’s Gen Z will defend the Constitution, protect democracy and stop vote theft. I always stand by them. Jai Hind!”

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi took exception to Rahul's purported comparison of India with countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka and called such comparisons inappropriate. "Rahul's 'hydrogen bomb' claims and using terms like "Gen-Z" show his desperation... India will never accept power gained by undemocratic means," he said.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Leader of Opposition should confront his repeated electoral defeats instead of casting aspersions on democratic institutions.

“If you lose elections repeatedly, you should acknowledge your weaknesses and accept the failure of your leadership. But instead, ...you start blaming institutions. Is that the right way?” Rijiju said while addressing an event here.