EC officials ask Rahul Gandhi to sign declaration or apologise

New Delhi: As Congress leaders stepped up Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" allegations, Election Commission officials asked him on Saturday to either sign a declaration supporting his assertions or apologise to the country for making "fake" charges.

A day after Gandhi and the EC exchanged barbs over alleged vote theft in at least three states, poll authority officials again insisted on a signed declaration by the Congress leader to substantiate his claims.

"Rahul Gandhi should either give a declaration as per the rules, or apologize to the country for his false allegations," an official said.

As Gandhi and the EC targeted each other, the BJP separately said on Saturday that the Congress leader must resign on "moral grounds" from the membership of Lok Sabha if he does not have faith in the Election Commission, and flayed him for not submitting a written declaration on his "vote theft" claim.

After Gandhi's "vote chori" claims, the chief electoral officers of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Haryana had asked Gandhi to furnish names of those he claims were either left out or wrongfully included in the electoral rolls along with a signed declaration as per the Conduct of Election Rules.

But Gandhi had made it clear that he would not sign a declaration, asserting that he had already taken an oath to uphold the Constitution as a member of Parliament.

With PTI inputs