Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi extended his poll-rigging charge against the Election Commission during a rally in Bengaluru Friday, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP led an assault against the Constitution during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“In the previous elections, we had defended the Constitution, which grants the right to one vote. The BJP attacked this right in the last polls by undermining India’s institutions. After the Lok Sabha elections, the Maharashtra polls were held. In the General Elections, our alliance won, but four months later, the BJP won in Maharashtra. This surprising result led us to investigate, and we found that one crore new voters had voted in those elections. Wherever these new voters appeared, the BJP won,” Rahul Gandhi said.
He added: “In yesterday’s press conference, we have proved 100% that the Election Commission and the BJP have committed theft of votes.”
Gandhi, in a press conference held on Thursday, alleged that over one lakh votes from a constituency in Karnataka were “stolen” during the general elections last year. Hitting back at the Congress leader, the Election Commission urged him to sign a declaration regarding his claim or apologise to the nation.
Replying to the ECI’s demand, Gandhi said in Bengaluru today, “The Election Commission asks me to file affidavit under oath, however, I have taken oath inside Parliament holding Constitution.”
Attacking the Election Commission, he said, “Today, when people are questioning EC based on our data, it has shut its website.” He further claimed that the EC websites in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar have been closed.
Further, the former Congress president said, “In the (2024) Lok Sabha election, our alliance wins. But after 4 months, the BJP wins the Maharashtra Assembly election. It was a surprising election result. When we tried to find out, we learnt that 1 crore new voters cast their votes; 1 crore new voters who had never voted in the LS polls voted in the assembly election in Maharashtra.”
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The Congress leader claimed that such new votes went to the BJP, which pointed to “wrongdoings.”
“Wherever these new voters cast their votes, the BJP won. The votes of our alliance did not reduce and we got exactly the same number of votes we had in the Lok Sabha election. The new voters went to the BJP in the Assembly election,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
