CEC says Rahul’s 'vote chori' allegation to be deemed baseless if no sworn affidavit is filed in 7 days
NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday asserted that those, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who are levelling allegations of ‘vote chori’ (theft), must submit proof under oath within the next seven days, failing which their claims would be treated as baseless.
Addressing a press conference here for the first time since the controversy erupted amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in Bihar, the CEC said that if anybody wants to file a complaint without being a voter of that constituency, “he/she can do the same only as a witness under oath.”
It may be noted that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had launched a scathing attack against the Commission on July 31. During a press conference, he accused the poll panel of indulging in ‘vote chori’.
Gandhi, through a PowerPoint presentation, cited data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and alleged that over 1 lakh votes were “stolen” in the Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka through five types of manipulation, including duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses and single-address voters. He also alleged similar irregularities in other states.
However, since then the chief electoral officers of several states have asked the Congress leader to file an affidavit under oath on his claims, but he has so far allegedly refused to do so.
Responding to questions about Gandhi’s allegations, CEC Kumar said: “Should the Commission issue notice to 1.5 lakh voters without declaration under oath by the complainant.”
He further stated: “If no declaration under oath is given within 7 days, claims will be considered baseless and invalid and those, who are making unfounded allegations should apologise to the nation.”
Emphasising that neither the Election Commission nor the voters are concerned by the allegations of double voting or ‘vote chori’, the CEC said: “The Sun would continue to rise in the East even if somebody claims it from some other direction.”
Gandhi, however, has reportedly insisted on his allegations and demanded a response from the ECI. While addressing a gathering in Bihar’s Sasaram at the launch of his 1,300 km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ on Sunday, he said that he had been asked to submit an affidavit after his press conference “exposing vote chori”, but no such demand was made from BJP leaders, who had made similar claims in their pressers.
Meanwhile, the CEC reiterated that the doors of the Commission are open to everyone and that the poll body is working in a “transparent manner” as part of the SIR exercise in Bihar.
“The truth is that step by step all the stakeholders are committed, trying and working hard to make the SIR of Bihar a complete success. When more than seven crore voters of Bihar are standing with the Election Commission, then neither can any question mark be raised on its credibility nor on the credibility of the voters,” he asserted.
Kumar also informed that 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLA) have prepared the draft voter list in Bihar and that, so far, individual voters have submitted a total of 28,370 claims and objections.
According to the CEC, the main objective behind sharing the electoral roll with all political parties and candidates was to ensure that any issues could be raised in time. He also noted that since none of the political parties and their BLAs submitted any “claim or objection”, it appeared they were not examining the electoral rolls.
For the past two decades, irrespective of ideology, most political parties have been flagging defects in the Electoral Rolls. Precisely to address this, the ECI has been conducting SIR in Bihar ahead of assembly elections in the state, Kumar said, while stressing that such an exercise is carried out before and after polls.
In response to a question on how many Bangladeshi, Nepali and Myanmar nationals were found during the enumeration process, the CEC responded: “An intensive probe will be conducted of the Enumeration Forms, and if it is found that some people are not Indian citizens, they will not be part of the Electoral Rolls.”
He also said that the ECI had complied with the Supreme Court order and, within 56 hours, “we have provided district-wise searchable lists of 65 lakh people whose names were not incorporated in the draft electoral rolls.”