Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the BJP, RSS and Election Commission of committing "an act of treason", alleging that "vote chori" was a direct attack on the Constitution.
"Vote chori is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our Constitution. The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served," Gandhi said in a post on X.
His remarks came amid a controversy over reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had repeatedly raised concerns over decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to reports, the two commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders issued by the poll panel, including those concerning deletion and restoration of voters, addition of new electors, appeals against electoral-roll decisions and the management of voter data.
The objections also reportedly covered changes to Form 6, used for voter registration, and aspects of the centralisation of electoral-roll data.
The Election Commission, however, on Wednesday said all its decisions, including those relating to the SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of both Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.
"All decisions of the Election Commission of India, including SIR, have been unanimous and with the approval of both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner," EC officials said.
The SIR exercise, which began in Bihar in 2025, has since been expanded to several states and Union Territories. The exercise has drawn criticism from opposition parties, which have alleged that large-scale deletions could exclude genuine voters. The EC has maintained that the revision is aimed at updating electoral rolls and removing ineligible and duplicate entries.
Gandhi also shared a video of remarks he had made earlier in which he warned EC officials that they would be held accountable for what he termed "treason".
The Congress has been stepping up its attack on the poll panel over the SIR exercise, with the party alleging that the revision process threatens the integrity of electoral rolls.
(With inputs from PTI)
