New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that his party has an “atom bomb” of an evidence to prove “vote chori” by the Election Commission for the BJP, remarks that evoked a sharp response from the poll panel that termed his allegations as “baseless and wild allegations”.
The BJP also responded strongly to Gandhi’s attack on the Election Commission, asking him to “flow like water” instead of “exploding like a bomb”.
Gandhi claimed that his party has an “atom bomb” of an evidence to prove “vote chori” by the Election Commission for the BJP and said that when it explodes the poll panel will have no place to hide anywhere in the country.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also warned that those people in the EC who are involved in this, right from the top to the bottom, should remember that they will not be spared because they have indulged in “treason”.
His remarks came on a day the Election Commission published the draft electoral rolls for Bihar, following the completion of the month-long special intensive revision exercise ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.
The opposition has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against this revision, alleging the EC’s exercise was aimed at “disenfranchising voters” in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections. They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.
Asked about the issue, Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex here, “I have said ‘vote chori’ is happening and now we have open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in ‘vote chori’.”
“I am not saying this lightly. I am saying this with 100 per cent proof. As soon as we release it, the whole country would know that EC is indulging in ‘vote chori’. It is doing it for the BJP,” he alleged.
The Election Commission termed Gandhi’s “wild allegations” of “vote chori” as deplorable, saying he has even started threatening the poll body and its staff.
“The Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis, and despite the daily threats being given, asks all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements and work in a fair and transparent manner,” the EC said in response to the comments made by Gandhi.
The poll watchdog further said that it has invited Gandhi over his past allegations in a mail sent on June 12, but he has so far not come for it. He also never sent any letter to the EC on any issue, the poll body said.
“It is very strange that he is making wild allegations and has now even started threatening EC and its staff. Deplorable,” it said.
The EC said it ignores all such “irresponsible” statements and asks all its staff to continue working impartially and transparently.
Earlier, speaking with reporters, Gandhi said his party had suspicion of poll irregularities in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls in 2023, then in the Lok Sabha polls last year and this went further in Maharashtra.
“We believe that vote theft has happened at the state level (in Maharashtra). Voter revision had happened and crore voters were added. Then we went into detail seeing that the EC is not helping and decided to dig deep into this,” he said.
“We got our own investigation done, it took six months and what we have found is an atom bomb. When it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide anywhere in the country,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader also warned that those people in the EC who are involved in this, right from the top to the bottom, should remember that they will not be spared because they are “working against India”.
“This is treason, nothing less than that. You may have retired, you may be anywhere, we will find you,” Gandhi said.
Responding to Gandhi’s remarks, the BJP asked him to “flow like water” instead of “exploding like a bomb”.
The ruling party also slammed him for using “undemocratic and undignified” language to target the poll panel.
“If they explode a bomb, we will save the Constitution,” it said.
The response comes after the Congress leader claimed that his party has “open and shut” evidence of alleged poll irregularities by the Election Commission. Likening the proof to an atom bomb, Gandhi said that the poll panel will have no place to hide when it explodes.
Replying to a query from reporters on the Congress leader’s remarks, BJP leader Sambit Patra said, “Will Rahul Gandhi explode like a bomb? What do you think? Their job is to explode. They have no other work to do.”
He said the Opposition party speaks of such things because they have no faith in democracy.
“Think what kind of language this is: I (Gandhi) will explode on the Election Commission!” Patra told reporters at the BJP headquarters.
“You say ‘I will go to Supreme Court against the Election Commission’ or ‘I will protest against it in a democratic manner’, but ‘exploding like a bomb’? The language (of Gandhi) itself is undemocratic and undignified,” Patra said.
The BJP leader said the language Gandhi used shows that “these people want to explode like bombs”.
“We have faith in democracy. If they detonate an atom bomb, we will save the Constitution,” Patra added.
