EC challenges Rahul Gandhi to prove ‘vote theft’ claims with signed declaration
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha claimed that there was "vote chori" of 1,00,250 votes in a Karnataka constituency.
A file image of Rahul Gandhi during a recent visit to Assam. (AT Photo)
New Delhi, Aug 8: A day after Rahul Gandhi alleged large-scale vote theft in at least three states, Election Commission (EC) sources on Friday said that if the Congress leader stands by his analysis and believes his accusations against the poll body are accurate, he should have “no problem” signing the mandatory declaration under electoral rules and submitting the names of voters allegedly added or removed wrongfully from the rolls.
They added that if Gandhi refuses to sign the declaration, it would indicate that he does not trust his own findings and the “absurd allegations” stemming from them — in which case, he should apologise to the nation.
On Thursday, the Chief Electoral Officers of the three states concerned had written to Gandhi, asking him to provide a list of such electors along with a signed declaration so that “necessary proceedings” could be initiated by the poll authorities.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha claimed on Thursday that there was "vote chori" of 1,00,250 votes in a Karnataka constituency, with 11,965 duplicate voters in the segment, 40,009 voters with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters or single address voters, 4,132 voters with invalid photos and 33,692 voters misusing Form 6 of new voters.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the Congress put together a team and collected "concrete evidence of vote chori" in six months.
If the EC does not give us machine-readable data for the past 10-15 years and the CCTV footage, they are partaking in the crime, Gandhi said.
PTI