Rahul Gandhi says CEC Gyanesh Kumar will face jail over vote theft
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Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday warned that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar could face jail for "treason" over vote theft, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would face legal action.
Addressing the Opposition INDIA bloc's rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of facilitating an "illegal" and "stolen" 2024 election. He alleged that 13.3 crore voters had been removed from electoral rolls, representing 15 per cent of the electorate.
"I am saying Gyanesh Kumar will be removed as CEC. He will go to jail," Gandhi said. He described the vote theft as "theft of the voice of every person" and said it amounted to treason.
The rally was organised to demand Kumar's resignation and protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Gandhi called his removal "the first step to getting the country on the right track".
He also accused the RSS of capturing institutions, but said the Opposition would not resort to violence or spread hatred. "We will not attack the RSS or BJP people. We will not spread hatred, we will work with love, but we will not let them destroy the Constitution," he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Modi "selects voters" instead of being elected by them. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of wanting only its members to remain voters and citizens, and raised concerns over voter deletions in Uttar Pradesh.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of using the SIR process against West Bengal and expressed solidarity with the Cockroach Janta Party and Gen Z.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti also addressed the gathering, criticising the BJP and raising concerns over the electoral process.