"Voters' Photos Shared Without Consent": Election Body Slams Rahul Gandhi

Coming out strongly against senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of 'vote fraud', the Election Commission of India has said that using "improper words" such as "vote chori" amounts to insulting the Constitution.  

Addressing a press meet in New Delhi this afternoon, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that the poll body was being used as a launchpad to target India's voters for political motives. Mr Kumar said the poll body stands firmly with the voters.

Flanked by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the Chief Election Commissioner said that for the poll body, there is no difference between the ruling party and the Opposition.

"Every party is the same for us," he said, adding that the Election Commission will not step back from its constitutional responsibility.

The Election Commission's response came on a day Mr Gandhi launched the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar to target the poll body over the raging issue of Special Intensive Revision in the poll-bound state.

The Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, the Chief Election Commissioner said, was launched to address political parties' demands for corrections in the database.

Mr Kumar said there is a month-long window to make objections to the draft voter list and appealed to political parties to flag any errors. "The doors of the Election Commission are always open for everyone equally," he said.

All voters, political parties and booth-level officers are working transparently on the ground, the Chief Election Commissioner said. "It is a matter of concern that the voice of these representatives of political parties is either not reaching their parties' leadership, or ground realities are being ignored in an attempt to spread misinformation." 

"As for a machine-readable voter list, the Supreme Court said in 2019 that this can lead to a breach of voter privacy. We saw some days back that photos of several voters were released in the media without their permission. Should the poll body share CCTV footage of any voter?" Mr Kumar asked. 

"More than 1 crore officials, over 10 lakh booth-level agents and over 20 lakh polling agents work for a Lok Sabha election. Can anyone steal votes in front of so many people and with such a transparent process? Some allegations of double voting were made, but when we asked for proof, we got nothing. Such allegations scare neither the Election Commission nor any voter," the Chief Election Commissioner said.

"When the Election Commission is being used as a launchpad to target voters for political reasons, we are making it clear that we stand firmly with all voters without any discrimination," he said. 

The Election Commission's pushback comes amid Mr Gandhi's all-out offensive, accusing the poll body of colluding with the BJP and facilitating poll irregularities.

In a press meet earlier this month, Mr Gandhi alleged vote fraud in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha election last year. Today, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha launched the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar. This Yatra will cover 1,300- km across 20 districts of the poll-bound state. 

"In the whole country, Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen and their last conspiracy is to delete and add voters through SIR to steal the elections in Bihar," Mr Gandhi alleged at the launch of the Yatra. "We will not let them steal the election in Bihar. People of Bihar will not let them steal elections. Poor only have the power of vote and will not let them steal polls," he said.

In the wake of the allegations, the Karnataka poll body had asked Mr Gandhi to take an oath and submit a declaration that he had found irregularities in the voter list or withdraw his "fabricated evidence". 

Asked about this, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, "If you are not voter of that constituency, then you have only one option in the law and that is The Registration Of Electors Rules, rule number 20, sub-clause (3), sub-clause (b) which says that if you are not an voter of that constituency, then you can lodge your complaint as a witness and you will have to give an oath to the electoral registration officer and that oath will have to be administered in front of the person against whom you have complained."

Mr Kumar said the election body cannot stay silent if voters are insulted. Targeting Mr Gandhi said, "Affidavit has to be given or (he) must apologise to the nation. There is no third option. If we don't receive an affidavit within seven days, it means these allegations are baseless."  

Addressing the media after the Chief Election Commissioner's remarks, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said the poll body chief did not answer the Opposition's questions.