E-Paper
‘Sign declaration or apologise’: EC shreds Rahul Gandhi's ‘5 questions’
Responding under the hashtag #ECIFactCheck, the Election Commission dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as “misleading”.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday issued a detailed rebuttal to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s sharp five-question challenge posed at a rally earlier in the day, where he accused the poll body of bias, tampering, and shielding the ruling party.
Responding under the hashtag #ECIFactCheck, the Election Commission dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as “misleading” and accused him of making public claims without following any official complaint process or legal recourse.
The poll body asked Rahul Gandhi to “either sign the declaration on issues” he has raised in the press conference on Thursday or else "apologise to the nation.”
The entire EC vs Rahul Gandhi episode stems from Congress leader's press conference of Thursday, in which he presented what he termed as an “atom bomb” of proofs over poll body resorting to "vote chori". Rahul Gandhi particularly cited anomalies in some states like Maharashtra and Karnataka. He spoke of irregularities like “one crore mystery voters,” destruction of CCTV footage, thousands of fake voters, and refusal by the EC to share voter-related data.
What did Rahul Gandhi ask?
Through a post on X, in which he shared a video of him at the rally he held in Karnataka's Bengaluru on Friday, Rahul Gandhi wrote, “Election Commission, there are 5 questions - the country demands answers:”
1. Why isn't the opposition getting the digital voter list? What are you hiding?
2. CCTV and video evidence are being erased - why? On whose orders?
3. Fake voting and tampering with the voter list - why?
4. Threatening and intimidating opposition leaders - why?
5. Tell us clearly - has the ECI now become an agent of the BJP?
EC's response
Resharing Rahul Gandhi's post with the hashtag ECIFactCheck, the poll body said the statements made by the Congress leader are “misleading”.
EC wrote
- INC plea of providing machine readable voter list was rejected by Hon’ble Supreme Court in Kamal Nath vs ECI, 2019
- Any aggrieved Candidate can file an election petition (EP) to challenge his election in the concerned High Court within 45 days. If an EP is filed, CCTV footage is retained; otherwise, it serves no purpose – unless someone intends to breach voter privacy.
For example, reviewing CCTV footage from 1 lakh polling stations would take 1 lakh days – that’s approximately 273 years – with no legal outcome possible.
- During preparation of Electoral Roll in LS-2024, hardly any appeals were filed by INC across all 36 States & UTs under Section 24 of RP Act 1950.
- Many such allegations are being made by Shri Rahul Gandhi and are being reported by the media, despite no written complaint ever being submitted by him. In the past as well, he has never personally sent a self-signed letter. For example, he raised the Maharashtra issue in December 2024. Subsequently, an advocate from AICC wrote to ECI. Our reply, dated 24 December 2024, is publicly available on ECI website. Yet, Shri Rahul Gandhi claims that ECI never responded.
Therefore,
a) If Shri Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against the Election Staffs are true, he should have no problem in submitting claims and objections against specific voters and sign the Declaration/Oath as per Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
b) If Shri Rahul Gandhi does not sign the Declaration, it would mean that he does not believe in his analysis, resultant conclusions and is making absurd allegations. In which case he should apologise to the nation.
“Either sign the Declaration on issues you have raised in the press conference which you believe is true or else Apologise to the Nation,” the EC post read.
Addressing the Vote Adhikar rally in Bengaluru on Friday, Rahul Gandhi said he has already taken oath in Parliament to uphold the Constitution.
