Rahul Gandhi renews demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over 'vote chori'
Rahul Gandhi reiterated that CEC Gyanesh Kumar should resign, alleged a conspiracy by PM Modi and Amit Shah over 'vote theft', and said both would be investigated.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday renewed his demand for the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, amid mounting calls for his removal.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Gandhi alleged a conspiracy involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over what he termed "vote theft", and said the two leaders would be investigated in connection with it. He also accused them of backing the Chief Election Commissioner.
The remarks followed a report on dissent within the Election Commission of India. Mr. Gandhi said the two Election Commissioners had done the wise thing, and suggested that Mr. Kumar should seriously consider turning approver in the country's interest.
He said the two Commissioners began opposing Mr. Kumar after the Congress repeatedly raised the "vote chori" issue in the wake of the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections. He asserted with certainty that Indian elections, including the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and Assembly elections, were rigged.
Mr. Gandhi recalled the dissent note he had submitted during Mr. Kumar's appointment in February 2025 and said the government had junked it.
At the start of his address, he played old videos of Mr. Shah saying the BJP would remain in power for at least 30 to 50 years after its 2014 win, and of Mr. Modi saying the party would win 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He said every leader and party had faced anti-incumbency except Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah, calling it a puzzle as to where India's political force had disappeared.
Describing the chain that sustains modern India, he said the vote gives the Constitution its power, the Constitution produces laws, and the laws create institutions. If the vote is destroyed, the Constitution is destroyed and loses its power, he said, adding that illegal laws would render institutions meaningless.
He argued that any laws and institutional changes made in Parliament by MPs elected through "stolen votes" are illegal. "This is not just an attack on the vote. This is an attack on the idea, on the basic infrastructure, on the expression of every single Indian," he said, adding that the party had repeatedly flagged a problem with the vote.