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‘Are you calling my voters liars?’: CEC on opposition's ‘vote chori’ allegations
CEC Gyanesh Kumar pointed out three scenarios for pointing out mistakes in the electoral rolls and explained the ECI’s graded response to each.
Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said that pointing out mistakes in the election process and electoral rolls after the prescribed time can only be considered a political statement.
The CEC made these remarks while addressing a press conference in Delhi. He pointed out three scenarios for pointing out mistakes in the electoral rolls and explained the ECI’s graded response to each.
“The election commission has a graded response on that. If you are a voter in any assembly constituency, and bring the problems within the prescribed time frame, then you need to fill Form 7. If you are a voter in any assembly constituency and bring the mistakes after the prescribed time frame, then it is only considered a political statement. If you point out mistakes after the prescribed time and level allegations of theft on the voters and the election commission, then there is a difference in the grading of these three scenarios,” he told the media.
Addressing Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, directly about his ‘vote chori’ allegations, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said that if he doesn't give the oath within 7 days, he will have to apologise.
"Are you calling my voters liars???? EC will not stay shut. He will have to apologise if, within 7 days, I don't get the oath. It means he is a liar, and he blamed my voters as liars," he said.
CEC calls ‘vote chori’ allegations an 'insult to the constitution’
Criticising the use of phrases like “vote chori (theft)”, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was combative at a press conference in Delhi. He said “unsuccessful efforts to mislead the voters” amounted to “nothing less than an insult to the Constitution”.
“At a time when shots are being fired at the voters by perching a gun on the EC's shoulder, we want to make it clear that the EC has fearlessly stood by voters from across sections and religions, and will continue to stand by them like a rock,” the CEC said, speaking in Hindi.
He said no proof was provided to back allegations of people voting twice.
The EC had earlier asked Rahul Gandhi to provide proofs under oath, to which he had retorted, saying he had already taken the oath of the Constitution as a member of Parliament, and that the EC could simply check its own data that he had cited.
