‘ECI is compromised’: Rahul; BJP hits back
Gandhi, who was addressing the Indian diaspora at an event in Boston on Sunday, a day after his arrival in the US, cited voter turnout figures in the Maharashtra assembly elections to target the poll panel.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged at an event in the US that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is “compromised” and that “there is something wrong with the system”, drawing a strong reaction from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha of insulting Indian institutions and democracy on foreign soil.
Gandhi, who was addressing the Indian diaspora at an event in Boston on Sunday, a day after his arrival in the US, cited voter turnout figures in the Maharashtra assembly elections to target the poll panel. The former Congress president said that according to ECI data, more people voted in the Maharashtra assembly elections last November than there were adults in the state.
“The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5.30 pm, and between 5.30 pm and 7.30 pm, 65 lakh (6.5 million) voters voted. This is physically impossible to happen. For a voter to vote, it takes approximately three minutes, and if you do the math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2 am, but this did not happen,” he said.
“When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography,” Gandhi said. “It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and it is very clear that there is something wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times.”
In the November 20, 2024 Maharashtra elections, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — comprising the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP(SP) — was defeated by the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP coalition Mahayuti.
ECI was yet to respond to the Congress leader’s remarks till the time of going to press.
The Congress had raised similar allegations on voting patterns and large-scale deletion/addition in the voter list during the elections. On December 24 last year, three weeks after a Congress delegation met ECI, the poll body had dismissed the allegations as a “baseless accusation” that “creates unnecessary and avoidable doubts and anxiety in the mind of the public”.
On the alleged discrepancy in voter turnout between 5 pm and 11.30 pm, ECI had said: “At the time of counting, data entered in Form 17C is tallied with data in EVM in presence of the counting agents and therefore allegation of gap between voting percentage data released 5 PM on poll day and final polling percentage data is superfluous.”
On the Congress’s claims of “arbitrary deletion” and “subsequent addition” in electoral rolls, ECI had said that a rule-based, transparent process was followed, with no irregular patterns observed in voter deletions across Maharashtra. It added that deletions of an average of 2,779 electors per assembly seat were done on account of deaths, shifting of voters, and duplicate entries after following due process, including participation of party representatives.
The ruling BJP took exception to Gandhi’s remarks, with party lawmaker and nation spokesperson Sambit Patra alleging the Congress leader was venting his ire over the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) action in the National Herald case.
“Nothing will happen by doing so. ED will not spare you because agencies work on the basis of facts and the National Herald matter is an open and shut case. You will not be spared. You and your mother (Sonia Gandhi) will be caught with proceeds of crime and sent to jail,” Patra said.
The BJP MP said it was ironic that when US Vice-President JD Vance was in India, Gandhi went to the US and disrespected India and its democracy.
“You are a traitor, not just because you insult Indian institutions and Indian democracy on foreign soil but also because you and your mother have embezzled crores of rupees of the country in the National Herald case,” he claimed.
ED has recently named Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused in its charge sheet filed before a special court in the national capital in connection with its ₹988-crore money laundering probe into the National Herald case.
Patra also questioned Gandhi to explain if the poll body was “compromised” when the Congress and its alliance partners won the Jharkhand assembly elections, which happened at the same time as the Maharashtra polls.
“This is a habit of the Congress. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi that did you reach a compromise with EC in the Jharkhand elections. Did [Hemant] Soren reach a compromise with EC?... When the BJP won 240 seats (in the last year’s general elections), the Congress called it BJP’s loss and Congress’s victory—was EC compromised then? Were you compromised then?” Patra asked.
The Congress leader is scheduled to visit Brown University in Rhode Island on April 21-22 to give a talk and interact with faculty members and students.
