Election Commission 'compromised': Rahul Gandhi says in US; BJP hits back

Boston: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has cited the Maharashtra Assembly polls to allege that the Election Commission is “compromised” and “there is something wrong with the system”.

Gandhi arrived in the US on Saturday.

Speaking at an event here on Sunday, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha claimed that, in simple terms, more people voted in the Maharashtra assembly Elections than there are adults in the state.

“The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5:30 PM, and between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, 65 lakh voters voted. This is physically impossible to happen. For a voter to vote, it takes approx 3 minutes, and if you do the Math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2 AM, but this did not happen,” he said.

“When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but they also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography,” Gandhi said.

"It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and it is very clear that there is something wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times,” he added.

After he arrived in the US, he began interactions with business and community members. He will visit Brown University in Rhode Island on April 21-22.

At Brown University, Gandhi will give a talk and interact with faculty members and students.

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's comments on the ECI, BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan said, "Rahul Gandhi who is on another 'Bharat Badnam Yatra', 'India Abuse Yatra' on foreign soil has once again, deplorably attacked India's constitutional institution and he has unsuccessfully once again tried to undermine India's democracy in a foreign country. Rahul Gandhi has attacked the ECI abroad... in America, he is peddling lies, falsehoods and trying to attack our ECI when the American President, Mr Donald Trump, has hailed and lauded India's electoral system and India's voter registration... This is how clueless LoP Rahul Gandhi is."

(With PTI inputs)