The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday asked Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to either give a declaration as per the rules or apologise to the country for his “false” allegations regarding the voter lists, ANI report stated.
“Rahul Gandhi should either give a Declaration as per rules or apologise to the country for his false allegations,” ECI said in an official statement.
This came after a press conference held by Rahul Gandhi on August 7, where he claimed that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were “choreographed” by the EC to benefit the BJP, which he said appeared “immune to anti-incumbency.”
Citing internal analysis, Gandhi said the Congress expected to win 16 seats in Karnataka but ended up with only nine. He said the Congress investigated seven unexpected losses, zeroing in on Mahadevapura, where he alleged vote theft involving 100,250 votes. Rahul said that the all data was drawn from the Election Commission.
According to the sources, the poll body had also asked Rahul Gandhi to sign the declaration by the Chief Electoral Officers of Maharashtra and Karnataka or apologise for his “absurd” allegations. ECI sources said, “If Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against ECI are true, he should have no problem in signing the Declaration.”
MVA was offered 160 seats, claims Pawar
Days after Rahul Gandhi presented his “atom bomb proof,” NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday made another serious charge concerning the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Endorsing Rahul Gandhi’s claims regarding vote rigging, Pawar claimed that ahead of the Maharashtra elections, two individuals approached him, assuring they could help the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance get elected in 160 out of 288 seats in the state.
Sharad Pawar clarified that he does not have the names or addresses of these two individuals.
“But I do remember clearly that these two people told me they could help us get elected to 160 seats out of 288 in the assembly elections. Although I was surprised, I did not doubt the Election Commission of India’s functioning. Later, I introduced them to Rahul Gandhi, where they repeated the same assurance. However, both of us agreed that we would not resort to any malpractice and would instead appeal to the people, accepting whatever mandate they give us,” Pawar said.
The former union minister also urged the EC to respond adequately to questions raised by Rahul Gandhi.
Reacting to the poll body’s demand for a signed declaration by Gandhi regarding his claims, Pawar said, “Gandhi has taken his oath as an MP; what more oath does the ECI require? It should launch an inquiry and clarify these doubts. Otherwise, the ECI, as an independent institution, will remain under suspicion.”