Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stepped up his criticism of the Election Commission, accusing the poll panel of being involved in what he described as “vote chori” and calling it a direct attack on the Constitution.
In a video message shared on X, Gandhi addressed the Election Commission and its officials, alleging that their actions were wrong. He also used the term “treason” while warning that those responsible would eventually be held accountable. In the accompanying post, he alleged that the BJP, RSS and Election Commission were responsible for “vote chori”. These are Gandhi’s political allegations and have not been established as facts.
His remarks came after a report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months regarding decisions taken in the name of the poll panel. The reported issues included changes to Form 6, centralisation of ERONet controls in Delhi, voter-deletion appeals in West Bengal and the non-inclusion of some eligible voters in Goa.
The reported disagreements have also brought renewed attention to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the functioning of the three-member Election Commission.
However, the Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that there was an internal rift among the commissioners. EC sources said on Wednesday that all decisions taken by the commission, including those related to SIR, had the approval of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The commission maintained that its decisions were unanimous.
The Election Commission’s clarification presents a different account from the report cited in the political debate. While the report described objections recorded by two commissioners, the EC has said those objections did not mean that final decisions lacked the approval of all three members.
The dispute comes at a time when the electoral-roll revision process has become a major political issue, with opposition parties raising questions about voter deletions and the functioning of the poll panel.
Gandhi’s latest comments are likely to keep the issue in the political spotlight, while the Election Commission’s assertion of unanimous decision-making remains its official position on the reported disagreements.
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