NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi on Thursday stepped up his attack against Election Commission and accused it of "enabling" electoral fraud in Karnataka.
The Congress leader said that his party has "100 per cent proof" of allaged voter manipulation in Karnataka and warned the poll body that they would not remain silent.
"Not 90 per cent, when we decide to show it to you, it is a 100 per cent proof," Gandhi said.
"I want to send a message to the Election Commission: If you think you are going to get away with it, if your officers think they are going to get away with it, you are mistaken. You are not going to get away with it, because we are going to come for you," the leader of opposition said.
He alleged that the manipulation included thousands of unauthorised new entries of voters aged 50, 60 and 65, and deletion of legitimate voters above the age of 18.
"We just looked at one constituency and we found this. I am absolutely convinced that constituency after constituency this is the drama that is taking place. Thousands and thousands of new voters, how old are they? -- 45, 50, 60, 65, thousands and thousands of them in one constituency. This is one thing, voter deletion, voter addition, new voters who are way above 18 (is going on)... so we have caught them," he said.
Gandhi said the alleged malpractice has also been taking place during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
“The Election Commission is not functioning as the Election Commission of India,” he said. “Today they made some statement. This is complete nonsense.”
Other opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and DMK’s TR Baalu joined protests inside Parliament premises, holding placards that read "SIR is the murder of democracy" and "Justice, Justice, Justice". Tejashwi Yadav said that the Mahagathbandhan could even consider boycotting the elections, if necessary.
The opposition alleges that the SIR process is targeting marginalised voters and is an attempt to disenfranchise sections of the electorate ahead of state elections. Congress leaders have accused the poll body of siding with the ruling BJP and not responding to growing concerns over electoral integrity.
In response, EC issued a defence of its revision process, stating that it was aimed at ensuring clean electoral rolls and removing ineligible voters. The commission said it was acting within its constitutional mandate and asked political parties to rise above their ideologies.
“Should the Election Commission allow fake votes in the name of deceased, migrated or foreign voters?” it asked in a statement. “Isn’t the authentic voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, the foundation stone for fair elections and a strong democracy?”
Even after the EC defended itself in the Supreme Court, opposition parties continued their protest for the fourth straight day, demanding a proper discussion in both Houses on what they call a misuse of the voter list revision process.
The Congress leader said that his party has "100 per cent proof" of allaged voter manipulation in Karnataka and warned the poll body that they would not remain silent.
"Not 90 per cent, when we decide to show it to you, it is a 100 per cent proof," Gandhi said.
"I want to send a message to the Election Commission: If you think you are going to get away with it, if your officers think they are going to get away with it, you are mistaken. You are not going to get away with it, because we are going to come for you," the leader of opposition said.
He alleged that the manipulation included thousands of unauthorised new entries of voters aged 50, 60 and 65, and deletion of legitimate voters above the age of 18.
"We just looked at one constituency and we found this. I am absolutely convinced that constituency after constituency this is the drama that is taking place. Thousands and thousands of new voters, how old are they? -- 45, 50, 60, 65, thousands and thousands of them in one constituency. This is one thing, voter deletion, voter addition, new voters who are way above 18 (is going on)... so we have caught them," he said.
Gandhi said the alleged malpractice has also been taking place during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
“The Election Commission is not functioning as the Election Commission of India,” he said. “Today they made some statement. This is complete nonsense.”
Other opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and DMK’s TR Baalu joined protests inside Parliament premises, holding placards that read "SIR is the murder of democracy" and "Justice, Justice, Justice". Tejashwi Yadav said that the Mahagathbandhan could even consider boycotting the elections, if necessary.
The opposition alleges that the SIR process is targeting marginalised voters and is an attempt to disenfranchise sections of the electorate ahead of state elections. Congress leaders have accused the poll body of siding with the ruling BJP and not responding to growing concerns over electoral integrity.
In response, EC issued a defence of its revision process, stating that it was aimed at ensuring clean electoral rolls and removing ineligible voters. The commission said it was acting within its constitutional mandate and asked political parties to rise above their ideologies.
“Should the Election Commission allow fake votes in the name of deceased, migrated or foreign voters?” it asked in a statement. “Isn’t the authentic voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, the foundation stone for fair elections and a strong democracy?”
Even after the EC defended itself in the Supreme Court, opposition parties continued their protest for the fourth straight day, demanding a proper discussion in both Houses on what they call a misuse of the voter list revision process.
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