Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Gyanesh Kumar will be removed as Chief Election Commissioner and be jailed eventually, alleging that votes were stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections through the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and manipulation of voter lists.
“Because of this, farmers, labourers and youth do not get their rights,” Gandhi said.
“Is the Congress opposing SIR or electoral accountability?
Addressing a news conference in Goa, Shekhawat said the revision is a constitutional exercise aimed at strengthening the country’s democratic institutions. “Criticise the government’s policies, decisions and perspectives, but what is the basis for opposing the process of preparing clean electoral rolls merely because of political convenience?” he said. The party should make its position clear,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the party’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, End Anarchy) padayatra in Faridabad on Sunday, where he accused Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of losing faith in democratic institutions. “Who votes for them? They choose themselves! The public does not elect them. The current central government, as well as the governments in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are all governments of vote theft.
Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking before him, accused the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of coming to power through what he termed “vote theft”, and called for PM Narendra Modi’s ouster from office. We must remove these thieves,” Kharge said. The gathering followed a public “impeachment” programme against the CEC held in the national capital on October 31. Former minister Pradhan was accompanied by Union Minister of State Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State Rajesh Nagar, Haryana Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam, several MLAs and party workers during the march, organised as part of the BJP’s nationwide campaign to counter what it called “anarchy being spread by the Congress”. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also alleged that the Congress and other parties are turning the SIR into a political controversy “for political convenience”.
