Rahul Gandhi vows action against poll body chief if INDIA bloc forms government

Intensifying his attack on the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday warned of initiating action against the chief election commissioner and the two election commissioners for vote theft if the INDIA bloc forms the government.

Addressing a gathering in Bihar's Gaya, Gandhi said the poll panel was asking him to file an affidavit even after the Election Commission's "vote chori" had been caught. He asserted that "vote chori" was an attack on the soul of 'Bharat Mata'.

"I want to tell the Election Commission that the whole country will ask you to give an affidavit. Give us some time, we will catch your theft in every assembly and Lok Sabha seat, and put it before the people," he said.

"Like PM (Narendra) Modi ji talks of a special package, the Election Commission has brought a special package for Bihar named SIR, which means a new form of vote theft," Gandhi said in his address, as he wound up the second day of the Voter Adhikar Yatra with Tejashwi Yadav by his side.

The Raebareli MP said the people of Bihar will tell the election commissioners and BJP leaders in one voice that "vote chori" cannot be done in the state.

The former Congress chief also launched a direct attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

"Whatever I say, I do it. You have seen that I don't lie from the stage... these three election commissioners... I want to tell them that it is Modi ji's government right now. Tejashwi ji said that you (election commissioners) have taken BJP membership and are working for them," he alleged.

"But understand one thing, a day will come that there will be an INDIA bloc government in Bihar and in Delhi; then we will take action against the three of you. You've stolen (vote) from the whole country," he said.

He made the remarks a day after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar served a seven-day ultimatum to Gandhi to submit a signed affidavit to back his claims, else the allegations would be considered baseless and invalid.

In his first press conference after Gandhi levelled allegations of 'vote chori' in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and several opposition leaders flagged issues about the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, CEC Kumar asked the Congress leader to either apologise or back his claims with a signed affidavit as required under electoral rules.

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(with inputs from PTI)