Rahul Gandhi has repeated his criticism of the Election Commission - that it colluded with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to commit voter fraud in Karnataka and Maharashtra last year, and is preparing to do the same in Bihar later this year via the 'special intensive revision'
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament Tuesday morning, the Congress MP said, "There are many seats... not just one or two... in which this was done. It is being done at a national level... systematically. The Election Commission knows this. Earlier there was no proof. Now there is..."
"We are protecting the Constitution... the Election Commission is not doing its duty of 'one person, one vote'. Abhi picture baaki hai (there is more to come)," he said with a slight smile.
Mr Gandhi's teaser quip came 24 hours after high drama on the streets outside the Parliament building.
The Congress leader and others from the INDIA opposition bloc held a vociferous protest Monday afternoon to pressure the poll panel to release machine-readable voter lists rather than posting scanned photographs of the voter list, which makes checking it for errors almost impossible.
Delhi Police detained Mr Gandhi and 29 opposition MPs, including the Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, and the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut.
READ | Rahul Gandhi, Opposition Leaders Detained By Police Over Poll Body March
As they were bussed away, he told reporters, climbing over each to get a quote, then too, "This fight is not political... it is to save the Constitution. The fight is for 'one person, one vote'."
Last week Mr Gandhi served up another warning to the Election Commission.
"Think twice before attacking the Constitution. We will catch you, one by one... (and) if you don't provide us with data (i.e., voter lists and poll booth video recordings over the past decade)... you cannot hide."
The opposition has alleged widespread voter fraud during the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka in April-May last year and the Maharashtra Assembly election in October. In both cases, they have has claimed, lakhs of illegally cast votes - all allegedly favouring the BJP - were cast and counted.
Last week Mr Gandhi fired up two PowerPoint presentations at INDIA bloc meetings.
READ | Rahul Gandhi Shares Karnataka "Votes Stolen Proof", BJP Says "Bogus"
He tabled data that suggested 1.02 lakh illegal votes - including an instance of 80 voters with the same addresses, a one-room tenement in Bengaluru's Mahadevapura area - were cast in the federal election.
Those votes, he said, led the Congress to lose the Bengaluru Central seat.
Mr Gandhi accused the Election Commission of voter fraud.
The BJP's PC Mohan won the seat from the Congress' Mansoor Khan by 33,000 votes.
Mr Gandhi and the opposition made similar allegations about the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election.
They claimed that over one crore voters appeared on the voter rolls four months after the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance was thumped in the Lok Sabha election in the state.
The opposition's protests have also been fuelled by the 'special intensive revision' of the Bihar voter list, an exercise ordered by the Election Commission months before polls in that state.
The Bihar voter list revision has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
READ | What EC Told Top Court On 'Exclusion Of Voters From List' Claim
The Election Commission has responded sharply to all of these charges, insisting its procedures are transparent and are meant to ensure free-and-fair polls. It has also hit back hard at Mr Gandhi's allegations, demanding he state his claims in a signed affidavit and provide proof.
READ | "New Wine, Old Bottle": Poll Panel Jabs Rahul Gandhi In Voter Fraud Row
In a particularly strong rebuttal Friday, the Election Commission said the Congress had "tried to mislead the Supreme Court" in 2018, referring to a petition by ex-Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
The BJP, meanwhile, has criticised Rahul Gandhi for "maligning a constitutional body".
"If Rahul Gandhi values his credibility, he must, under a declaration or oath, submit the names of the ineligible electors he claims are on the voter list... " the BJP's Amit Malviya said in an X post. "Failure to do so will make it clear he has no real case and was merely engaging in political theatre."
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