The Election Commission of India issued a sharp rebuttal on Friday after Rahul Gandhi accused the poll body of involvement in voter fraud. The senior Congress leader claimed to have “open-and-shut-proof” of direct EC involvement linked to the Bihar Special Intensive Revision exercise.
“Votes are being stolen. We have open-and-shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in this vote theft. And I’m not saying this lightly, I’m speaking with 100% proof. And when we release it (proof), the entire country will come to know that the Election Commission is enabling vote theft. And who are they doing it for? They’re doing it for the BJP,” Gandhi told reporters.
‘Baseless claims’
The Election Commission has since pushed back against these “baseless” claims and urged officials to continue their work. The remarks came even as the EC published the draft electoral rolls for Bihar on Friday, following the completion of a month-long Special Intensive Revision exercise ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.
“Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis and despite threats being given daily, asks all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements while working impartially and transparently,” the panel said in a statement.
‘Atom bomb’ findings against EC
Gandhi said that the findings of an investigation by the Congress amount to nothing short of an “atom bomb,” with implications severe enough to shake the very foundations of the ECI. The Leader of Opposition also warned that individuals within the Commission would not be spared — insisting that it was “no less than treason”.
“We had suspicion of voter theft, and we got into its granularity. Since the Election Commission was not helpful in the investigation, we did our own. It took six months and the things we found are an ‘Atom Bomb’ and when this atom bomb explodes you won’t see Election Commission in the country,” he explained.
(With inputs from agencies)