Vote Chori: EC harsh on RaGa, silent on Anurag Thakur
The Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, Sunday was visibly ‘angry’ on Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for accusing the EC of ‘Vote Chori’ but remained silent on Union Minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur who raised similar allegations
New Delhi: The Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, Sunday was visibly ‘angry’ on Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi for accusing the EC of ‘Vote Chori’ but remained silent on Union Minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur who raised similar allegations.
After Rahul Gandhi’s Press Conference on August 07 wherein the Congress MP shared the analysis of Mahadevapura Assembly seat in Bangalore Central Lok Sabha Constituency claiming manipulation and bogus vote of over 1 lakh.
Days after Rahul’s Press Conference, Union Minister Anurag Thakur talking to reporters shared the data of Raebareli, Wayanad, Kannauj and some other seats won by the opposition parties and claimed “bogus voters” in the electoral rolls of these constituencies.
On these allegations, the Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, did not directly say they are wrong but asked Rahul Gandhi to submit, what he claimed, under oath or apologise to the nation.
“There is no third option. Rahul Gandhi should either submit what he alleged under oath within seven days or apologize to the country”, Gyanesh Kumar said.
Rahul Gandhi in his press conference said his analysis of voter manipulation is based on data provided by the Election Commission of India. Gyanesh Kumar admitted the Election Commission had provided the voter lists to the Congress Party but said the data shown by Rahul Gandhi in his presentation is not EC’s and was misrepresented by the Leader of Opposition.
In response to Gyanesh Kumar, who said allegations of voter manipulation are misleading, a reporter asked will the Commission take any action against Rahul Gandhi and Anurag Thakur. Replying to the question, Kumar censored Rahul Gandhi but maintained a guarded silence on Anurag Thakur.
“If someone thinks by using a PPT presentation he can….. ", Kumar said adding, “The data shown in the presentation is not of Election Commission ... EC provided the voter lists... but they were misused to spread confusion”, he said.
Gyanesh Kumar was repeatedly asked about the allegations raised by Rahul Gandhi. He however did not clearly answer these questions except saying that the matter has been raised after the deadline.
“There is a time limit to raise objections in voter lists. Before every election, all political parties are provided with the final voter lists and a time limit is given to raise objections, if any. After the election result is declared, if a candidate is not satisfied, he or she has 45 days to challenge the verdict in the court.
“After these time limits, if someone raises any objection, it should be submitted under oath in an affidavit. Otherwise they are treated as non-serious and political”, he said.
The Election Commissioner was also asked why had the Commission not demanded affidavit from Anurag Thakur? Gyanesh Kumar ignored the question.
Akhilesh Yadva Challenges Gyanesh Kumar
During the Press Conference Sunday, some reporters asked what action the Commission had taken on affidavits claiming flaws in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha voter lists submitted by Samajwadi Party (SP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
Replying to the question, Gyanesh Kumar denied receiving affidavits from Samajwadi Party or Biju Janata Dal.
“This is wrong”, he said.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav however claimed the party has digitally generated receipts to prove the party submitted some 18,000 affidavits claiming mistakes and flaws in the voter lists.
“The Election Commission, which is saying that it has not received the affidavits submitted by the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, should check the acknowledgement issued by its own office as proof of receipt of our affidavits”, Akhilesh wrote on X while sharing the receipts.
Akhilesh also demanded that the ECI authenticate the digital acknowledgement it had issued.
“This time we demand that the Election Commission give an affidavit that the digital receipt sent to us is correct, otherwise along with the ‘Election Commission’, ‘Digital India’ will also come under suspicion”, he said.
Gyanesh Kumar evaded most of the questions
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during his press conference held at the National Media Centre in New Delhi evaded most of the questions asked by the reporters, and tried to dodge them by repeated and unrelated utterances.
The Hindu reporter asked him how many Nepalese, Bangladeshis and Rohingya voters were found in Bihar after the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. Gyanesh Kumar responded by saying, “As per the Constitution, only an Indian citizen can contest MP and MLA elections”.
Freelance Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta asked about “addition of lakhs of voters in Maharashtra ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections”.
Gyaneshk Kumar dodged the question and said no objection was raised on the matter within the stipulated time limit.
“They all came to know only after the election results were out…”, he said but did not satisfactorily reply to the question why there are more voters in Maharashtra than the population of people above 18-years of age.
A reporter asked why the Election Commission waited for the Supreme Court order to release the searchable list of 65 lakh voters deleted from voter lists in Bihar. The EC said there was the threat of “data misuse” and “breach of voter privacy”.
A reporter asked while the Election Commission claimed the removal of 65 lakh voters from Bihar voter lists, what is the number of voters added to the electoral rolls after the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Gyanesh Kumar did not reveal the number. When insisted he asked to wait till September 30, 2025 when the final lists will be published.
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