Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday issued a stern warning to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations that the Election Commission had “stealed” the elections in connivance with the BJP. He said the Congress leader should either file an affidavit in support of his claims or apologise to the nation.
Responding to a question at a press conference, the CEC rejected Gandhi’s argument that his oath as an MP was sufficient. He clarified that if a complainant is not a voter of the constituency concerned, as per the law, he has to file a complaint as a witness and file an affidavit before the Electoral Registration Officer.
“Either file an affidavit or apologise to the nation. There is no third option. If the affidavit is not filed within seven days, it means all the allegations are baseless,” Kumar said.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier argued that he had already taken the “oath to the Constitution” and hence did not need to give any further affidavit while accusing the commission of manipulating the Bihar voter list through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
The EC’s response comes after Gandhi’s repeated claims that the voter list was being manipulated to benefit the ruling party and “elections were being stolen across the country”.
Gandhi, while beginning his 1,300-km long Matdata Adhikar Yatra from Sasaram on Sunday, accused the EC of colluding with the BJP.
After the press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera accused the CEC of “acting like an agent of the BJP”.
The EC has categorically rejected the allegations and asserted that the voter list revision exercise in Bihar was being carried out in a transparent manner with the participation of all political parties and that baseless allegations only undermine public confidence in democratic institutions.