Election Commission Dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chori’ Allegation; Demands Proof

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegation of ‘vote chori’, calling it baseless and misleading.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said Gandhi must either present evidence or withdraw his claim within a week. He stressed that the poll body would not be weakened by political attacks.

“Produce evidence of voter fraud or withdraw your remarks. There is no third option,” Kumar said at a press conference in Delhi.

Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi also attended the event.

Kumar said the Commission had been wrongly targeted.

“When politics is being done by keeping a gun on the Election Commission’s shoulder, we want to make it clear that the EC fearlessly stood with voters of all sections and will continue to do so,” he declared.

ECI rejects allegations over Bihar rolls

The pushback came on the day Gandhi launched the Opposition’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar.

The controversy stems from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s rolls, which excluded nearly 65 lakh names from the draft list published on 1 August.

Opposition parties flagged 22 lakh removals as ‘deaths’ in six months.

Kumar clarified: “A Special Intensive Revision was last done 20 years ago. The deaths were those unreported in the last two decades, not in six months.”

He said the EC aimed to include every eligible voter, even those living under bridges or in unauthorised colonies, by assigning addresses.

He dismissed the charge of ‘vote chori’, stating, “Preparation of rolls and casting of votes are separate processes. When a voter presses the button, he can press it only once. Vote theft cannot happen.”

Commission defends neutrality

On duplicate voter IDs, Kumar explained that errors dated back to pre-2003 revisions. He admitted clean-up carried risks, but stressed caution was essential to avoid wrongful deletions.

He said Opposition parties were spreading doubt despite their booth-level agents approving the corrected rolls.

The CEC noted that 28,370 complaints had come from voters, not political parties, contradicting RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s claims. He gave all parties until 1 September to file objections, after which no complaints would be accepted.

Kumar said the EC complied swiftly with the Supreme Court’s directive to publish searchable deletion lists and accept Aadhaar for reinstatement. He also warned leaders against exposing personal voter data.

On citizenship verification, he asserted it fell under the EC’s powers as per Article 326.

Closing the press conference, Kumar stated: “The EC stood with Indian voters like a rock, stands with them like a rock, and will continue to stand like a rock. With over seven crore voters of Bihar supporting the EC, its credibility cannot be questioned.”