'Vote chori most serious anti-national act': Rahul Gandhi slams 'BJP-EC collusion'

New Delhi: In a no-holds-barred attack, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said "vote chori" is the "most serious anti-national act" and alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission are "colluding to destroy" India's democracy and "rob people of their voice".

Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi posed three questions which he claimed make it clear that the BJP is "directing and using" the Election Commission (EC) to damage India's democracy.

Making suggestions, Gandhi called for providing machine readable voter list to all parties one month before elections, taking back the law that allows destruction of CCTV footage after 45 days, giving access to EVMs, and changing the law that allows the election commissioners "to get away with whatever they want to do".

"When you destroy the vote, you destroy the fabric of this country, you destroy modern India, you destroy the idea of India," Gandhi said, gesturing towards the treasury benches.

Later, in a post on X, Gandhi said, "Vote Chori is the most serious anti-national act. Vote chori sabse bada deshdroh (treason) hai." He said India is not only the biggest but the greatest democracy in the world.

"BJP and the Election Commission are colluding to destroy our democracy and rob people of their voice," Gandhi said on X.

In his speech in the Lok Sabha, the former Congress chief also asked why the chief justice of India was removed from the selection panel for the appointment of the chief election commissioner and the election commissioners.

"Why is it that the CJI was removed from the selection panel for (appointing) the election commissioners? What motivation could there be to remove the CJI? Do we not believe in the CJI? Of course, we believe in the CJI. Why is he not in that room?" he said.

"I sit in that room. It is a so-called democratic decision. On one side, there is Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. On the other side, the leader of the opposition. I have no voice in that room. What they decide is what happens," he said.

So, why are the prime minister and home minister so keen on choosing exactly who the election commissioner is going to be, Gandhi asked.

"No prime minister has done this in the history of India. In December 2023, this government changed the law to make sure that no election commissioner could be punished for any action they take," the Congress leader said.

"Why would the prime minister and home minister give this gift of immunity to the election commissioner?" he said.

He further questioned why the law with regard to CCTV footage was changed.

"Why was a law put in place that allows the Election Commission to destroy CCTV footage 45 days after the election? What is the need? The answer given is that it is a question of data. But it is not a question of data. It is a question of stealing the election," he said.

Gandhi further said electoral reform is very simple, but the government doesn't want to do it.

"What does electoral reform require? Nothing more than what we've been saying. Give machine-readable voter lists to all political parties one month before the election. Take back the law that allows the destruction of CCTV footage.

"While you're doing that, also tell us what the architecture of the EVM is. Give us access to the EVM. Let our experts go and see what is inside the EVM. Till today, we have not had access to the EVM," he said.

"Change the law that allows the election commissioner to get away with whatever he wants to do. That's all the electoral reforms you need," he said.

Gandhi said he wants to remind the election commissioners that they might be under the impression that this law lets them get away with any wrongdoing but it is not so.

"Let me remind them: don't worry, we are going to change the law, and that too retroactively. And we are going to come and find you," he said.

In his speech in the Lok Sabha, elaborating on the "result of controlling" the chief election commissioner and the EC, Gandhi also said "we have a set of election campaigns that are tailored for the prime minister".

"Secondly, we have a Brazilian woman who appears 22 times on the voter list of Haryana. And not only that, there is one woman whose name has appeared over 200 times in one constituency in Haryana. And it is very clear, and I have proven without doubt that the election in Haryana was stolen, and the vote chori was ensured by the Election Commission of India," he said.

Gandhi also asked why after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, "1.2 lakh duplicate photos exist in Bihar voting list".

"If you've cleaned up the voting list, why are there 1.2 lakh duplicates in Bihar?These are straightforward questions. But the Election Commission has no answer to these questions," he said.

America calls itself the oldest democracy. But the democracy that weaves together the largest number of people, the largest diversity of people, the largest number of languages, and the largest number of states is India, Gandhi said.

"So our most powerful asset, the thing that stitches together the entire concept of modern India, brings people together, and allows them to build this great nation, is being attacked by these people," he said in an apparent attack at the BJP.

"They're destroying it. You know they're destroying it. I know they're destroying it. And they themselves know they're destroying it," he added.

In his remarks, Gandhi recalled that on January 30, 1948, three bullets pierced the chest of Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse assassinated the "father of our nation".

"Today, our friends (in the BJP) don't embrace him and push him away, as he is an uncomfortable truth. But that's not where the project ended," he said.

After Gandhiji's assassination, the next step of the project was the "wholesale capture" of India's institutional framework, he alleged.