Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the Election Commission (EC) was acting as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “election theft wing”, accusing the poll body of helping the ruling party carry out voter fraud ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.
Gandhi, in a post on X, shared a purported video showing government officials filling out forms without informing voters as part of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming polls.
“In Bihar, the Election Commission was caught red-handed stealing votes in the name of ‘SIR’. Their job is just theft, named ‘SIR’—an FIR will be filed against those who expose them! Is the EC still the ‘Election Commission’ or has it completely become BJP’s ‘Election Theft’ wing?” Gandhi wrote in his post in Hindi.
Party leader Jairam Ramesh also slammed the ongoing SIR exercise, describing it as a move to “rig the elections”. “The Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll is a deliberate and diabolical move to rig the elections through large-scale disenfranchisement. A PM who masterminded notebandi has orchestrated this votebandi,” he said on X.
Responding to the clip, EC said on X, “The claims made in the video are false”, directing to a link to Patna district magistrate’s statement on X, saying that the video is “misleading and baseless.”
{{/usCountry}}Responding to the clip, EC said on X, “The claims made in the video are false”, directing to a link to Patna district magistrate’s statement on X, saying that the video is “misleading and baseless.”
{{/usCountry}}Gandhi and other opposition leaders had previously questioned the poll body over alleged rigging of the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections. Last week, Gandhi alleged that BJP was making attempts to “steal the upcoming elections in Bihar, as it did in Maharashtra”, further accusing the poll body of working for the interest of the ruling party.
“Like Maharashtra, attempts are being made to steal the elections in Bihar. The BJP is attacking our Constitution across the country… At a meeting yesterday, the INDIA bloc decided to prevent the BJP and ECI from stealing the elections in Bihar,” Gandhi said during a rally in Bhubaneswar on July 11.