The Election Commission of India has been under fire since the Congress lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where the Narendra Modi-led NDA bagged a decisive victory. At the same time, the Congress had adopted a double standard on the voters’ list and EVMs. While the Congress has accepted the poll results without any question where it won the assembly elections, it has been alleging rigging or fraud where it lost the polls, as claimed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, when the Leader of Opposition comes out with an hour-long press conference alleging votechori (vote theft), the responsibility of the Election Commission multiplies manifold.
The Congress party went hard against the ECI after facing defeats in assembly polls like the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra assembly elections. The Special Intensive Revision in Bihar ahead of the polls added fuel to the fire with Congress digging into the voters’ list. Now, Rahul Gandhi’s poll rigging allegations in the 2024 Karnataka Lok Sabha election raise a serious question. While Rahul Gandhi can be right about duplicate voters or invalid addresses, and weird fathers’ names, it’s totally a different thing to make this a basis of collusion between the BJP and the ECI.
Notably, there has been a history of poll rigging and booth capturing in the pre-EVM era. The electoral rolls in the country have never been accurate. Many voters often reach out to the poll body seeking corrections to their names, their father’s name, address, or age. Also, when someone migrates, shifts or dies, the roll doesn’t get updated automatically. This is why roll updation and revision are very important from time to time. However, the Bihar SIR appears to be an exercise being conducted in a haste, with the burden fully lying on the voters to prove their credentials.
Rahul Gandhi is using the final Karnataka electoral rolls to allege votechori or poll rigging but the same roll was provided to all political parties in January, months ahead of the polls and the Congress did not raise any objection then. Notably, Rahul Gandhi still has an option to sign a declaration and go ahead with his claims to get them checked, challenged and verified. However, the leader of the opposition has chosen not to do so, leaving his claims hanging in the air with ECI seeking clarification from Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi appears to have made a deliberate political choice to place the allegation of a stolen election at the heart of the Congress campaign. By raising claims of electoral “fraud” only in the face of defeat, India’s main Opposition party risks absolving itself of responsibility during periods of BJP dominance.
While the charges made by Rahul Gandhi may have been false, it’s the responsibility of the ECI to look seriously into the issues of duplicate voter cards, fake addresses and wrong father’s name as shown in the rolls.
Just last week, the EC suspended four election officials in West Bengal over alleged manipulation of the electoral roll. It should address Gandhi’s allegations with the same urgency. By demanding that Gandhi file a formal declaration under oath, the poll body is splitting hairs. The Congress party has already gone ahead with a votechori website rahulgandhi.in/awaazbharatki/votechori where the visitors are requested to give a missed call on a certain number to extend their support. Whether this will become a public movement or not is a matter of time but it’s the need of the hour for the poll body to come clear on the charges for keeping faith restored in the democracy.
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