Rahul Gandhi Accuses Election Commission of Rigging Elections

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that elections in India were being rigged and called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar , reiterating his “vote chori” allegations against the Election Commission. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi said he was “100 per cent sure” that elections were rigged and questioned the apparent absence of anti-incumbency in recent elections. His remarks came a day after an Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections to Commission decisions at least 14 times over 10 months. Gandhi said the reported objections raised questions about the functioning of the Election Commission and argued that any failure to protect votes would have wider implications for constitutional institutions. He said the vote is the source of constitutional power and that, in his view, its destruction would undermine the Constitution, law-making and democratic institutions. He also questioned why anti-incumbency, which he described as a force that has affected governments in the past, appeared to have diminished in India. He cited former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as an example, saying that despite her government’s victory in the Bangladesh war, it faced significant anti-incumbency and political pressure within a year or two. Gandhi began the press conference by showing a purported video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in which Shah was heard saying that the BJP government would remain in power for 30 years. Gandhi questioned the remarks, saying that no political leader could make such a statement. He said the movement of electoral support between states and the apparent absence of anti-incumbency had become a fundamental question for the Congress. He argued that while the popularity of an individual or the performance of a government could explain electoral outcomes, the disappearance of anti-incumbency required an explanation. Gandhi said he was not making his allegations without evidence and claimed that information already available is sufficient, in his assessment, to establish that Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were rigged. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had undermined India’s democratic architecture and said those responsible for what he described as the destruction of votes should face consequences. Gandhi also criticised CEC Gyanesh Kumar, claiming that Kumar had been chosen by Modi and Shah and is now facing questions from the other two Election Commissioners. The Election Commission has rejected suggestions of a division within the three-member panel, saying that differing views, written observations and internal checks are part of institutional deliberations and that its decisions, including those concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), were unanimous. During the press conference, Gandhi displayed photographs of industrialist Gautam Adani, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Shah, Modi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Kumar, describing them as “conspirators”. He linked his “vote chori” allegation to the functioning of Parliament and other constitutional institutions, arguing that if votes were improperly removed, elected representatives would themselves be the product of an allegedly compromised electoral process. Gandhi said the vote is the source of constitutional power and that the Constitution provided the basis for law-making and the functioning of institutions. He argued that any destruction of votes would therefore have consequences for the wider constitutional system.