Give us some time, we will catch your theft in every Assembly, Lok Sabha seat: Rahul Gandhi's open message to ECI
Vote Adhikar Yatra
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday said thatthe Congress party will 'catch vote theft ' in every Assembly, Lok Sabha constituency and put it before people."Give us some time, we will catch your theft in every Assembly, Lok Sabha seat and put it before people," Gandhi said while addressing a rally as a part of his ' Vote Adhikar Yatra ' in Bihar's Gaya.Gandhi claimed that the Election Commission's 'vote theft' has been caught but they are asking him for an affidavit, adding that the entire country will ask the ECI for an affidavit."EC is accountable; it is their 'theft' that has been caught but they ask me for an affidavit. I'd like to tell the EC, the entire country will ask for your affidavit...We are going to detect your 'theft' in every state, every Lok Sabha constituency, every Vidhan Sabha constituency and show it to the country...Just like Modi ji announces special packages, EC has brought a new special package for Bihar - SIR," Gandhi said.He further threatened the three election commissioners of action when the INDIA bloc would be in power.Gandhi began the 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' from Sasaram on Sunday. He accused the ECI of stealing elections in collusion with the BJP and asserted that the INDIA bloc will not let their "latest conspiracy to steal" Bihar polls through SIR succeed.Gandhi also launched a scathing attack on the polling body after its press conference in Delhi and said that he is not scared of EC officials.With barely three months left for the Bihar Assembly polls , Gandhi was joined by his Mahagathbandhan allies in the state in a jeep driven by RJD's Tejashwi Yadav to kick-start the 1,300-km yatra and send a message that the Opposition is united in the state.In his remarks at the yatra launch event, he alleged that assembly and Lok Sabha polls were being "stolen" across the country and there was a "conspiracy" in Bihar to do the same through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.The Congress leader said while he was asked to submit an affidavit after his press conference exposing "vote chori", no such demand was made from BJP leaders who made claims in their presser."In the whole country, assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen and their latest conspiracy is to delete and add voters through SIR to steal the elections in Bihar," Gandhi charged."We have come here to tell you that we will not let them steal the election in Bihar. People of Bihar will not let them steal elections. The poor only have the power of vote and we will not let them steal polls," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said.He said the whole country now knows what the EC is doing and the Congress showed how it is carrying out this "theft"."Wherever this theft is happening, be it Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, we will catch their theft and put it before the people," Gandhi said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
BJP accuses Congress government of unleashing ‘tax terrorism' to fund guarantees
The Opposition BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress government in the State of unleashing 'tax terrorism' in the last 27 months of its rule, which resulted in price rise of several essentials, and demanded that it stop raising additional taxes or quit. Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok, who initiated the debate in the Legislative Assembly on 'halted developments' in the State, said the government has increased taxes, user fees and hiked fares/prices, and mobilised ₹52,422 crore annually against the requirement of about ₹50,000 crore for funding five 'guarantees'. The tax hike was unprecedented in the State, he said. Additional taxes Mr. Ashok said that, for instance, by imposing additional taxes on fuel, the government earned additional revenue of ₹6,500 crore. He also cited bus fare hike (₹1,000 crore), vehicle registration fee hike (₹3,300 crore) and so on — together generating an additional ₹52,422 crore annually. The fee for a birth certificate doubled from ₹10 to ₹20, the stamp paper price from ₹10 to ₹100 and now the government is 'extorting' money in the name of e-khata and charging for car parking space in apartments and individual households, he alleged. He demanded to know why we should pay to computerise (e-khata) property documents which already exist and called it a 'scam'. He said the Congress government had imposed 'tax terrorism to burden the common people'. Hike in 'commission' The Congress party, which labelled the previous BJP regime as a '40% commission' government, has increased the 'commission rate' to 70% for issuing commencement certificates (CC) for buildings. More than ₹35,000 crore SC/ST funds had been diverted to funding guarantees, the BJP leader alleged. The Leader of the Opposition said the ruling Congress members, such as Raju Kage, B.R. Patil, Basavaraj Rayareddi, Home Minister G. Parameshwara, have themselves exposed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's failures in funding the development works. State of roads 'Everywhere you look, there are potholes that have turned our roads into death traps. Continuous rains only expose government apathy,' said Mr. Ashok, criticising Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar's leadership. The bad roads reduced the speed of BMTC buses from 15 km per hour to 9 km per hour. More than ₹5,000 crore was spent on 874 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads around Bengaluru. Why were potholes seen on the roads, and where had the money gone?, asked Mr. Ashok.
The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
KTR accuses Congress cadres of urea black marketing, demands White Paper on fertilizer supplies
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao alleged that fertilizer stocks were being diverted and sold in the black market by Congress leaders, forcing lakhs of farmers to queue up for hours across the State. He also demanded that the State government release a White Paper on the fertilizer situation, providing details on the quota allocated and supplied to the State, stock position in warehouses, actual distribution to farmers and quantities diverted or missing. Speaking to the media from his residence in Nandinagar on Wednesday, he said, 'For the first time in Telangana's history, women farmers are spending nights outside depots, farmers are leaving shoes and Aadhaar cards in queues to save their place, and in some cases, even facing police cases for demanding fertilizers,' he said. The former Minister also urged the Centre to order a comprehensive investigation and take action against those responsible for the shortage of fertilizer in the State. On the upcoming Vice-Presidential election, Mr. Rama Rao declared that the BRS will extend support only to the party that ensures the supply of 2 lakh metric tonnes of urea before September 9. 'No alliance has approached us yet. But our decision will be taken solely in the interest of Telangana farmers. If the Congress Chief Minister nominates a candidate, we will oppose without hesitation,' he said. Mr. Rama Rao also accused the Congress of hypocrisy on social justice, pointing out that despite claiming affection for BCs, the party had not nominated a BC leader for the Vice-Presidential post. 'If they were serious, they could have fielded intellectuals like Kancha Ilaiah or any eminent BC leader,' he remarked. The BRS working president slammed both Congress and BJP for failing Telangana. He criticised Rahul Gandhi for remaining silent on the fertilizer crisis despite his 'Rythu Declaration' promises. 'Rahul has not uttered a single word in Parliament while Telangana farmers are in distress. This exposes his double standards,' Mr. Rama Rao said.
Hindustan Times
11 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Parliamentary panel urges law for OBC, SC, ST quotas in private universities
New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday flagged the 'considerably low' enrolment of Other Backward Classes (OBC) students and the 'abysmally low' presence of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in India's three private universities with Institution of Eminence (IoE) status and recommended a law making reservations mandatory in private higher educational institutions—27% for OBCs, 15% for SCs, and 7.5% for STs—in line with government norms. Proceedings of the Lok Sabha underway during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab) The central government has granted IoE status to 20 institutions (10 public and 10 private), thereby giving them special recognition, greater autonomy, and financial support to achieve world-class standards. The Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh in its report on the necessity for reservations for OBC, SC, and ST students in private higher educational institutions, reviewed the latest students' strengths from O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat; Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida; and Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani. Citing various Supreme Court's orders, the Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports, headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh in its report submitted to Parliament said that reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in private educational institutions is 'constitutionally permissible.' To introduce reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs in private higher education institutions, the Committee asked the government to follow the Right to Education (RTE) Act's 25% quota in private schools model – where fees are reimbursed by the government. Private educational institutions are currently not bound by law to implement reservation policies, as no statute mandates them. The panel called the absence of reservations in private educational institutions an 'impediment to attaining social justice in this country.' 'The committee, therefore, recommends that Article 15(5) of the Indian Constitution be implemented in full across the country through legislation by parliament. The committee recommends that 27%, 15% and 7.5% seats should be reserved for OBCs, SCs, and STs respectively in private higher educational institutions,' added the report. Article 15(5) of the Constitution, inserted through the 93rd Constitutional amendment in 2006, allows the government to mandate reservations for SC, ST, and OBC students in private educational institutions. In May 2014, in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v Union of India, the Supreme Court upheld the entirety of Article 15(5) of the Indian Constitution. Citing All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22 data, which lists 517 private universities, 240 central institutions and 445 state institutions, the panel noted that public institutions alone cannot meet demand, making private HEIs crucial for accommodating students from all sections of society. Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh in a statement said it is 'no longer possible to ignore' the demand of SC, ST and OBC communities for reservations in private higher education. Stating that the panel report has given 'renewed impetus' to the demand which was also mentioned in the party's 2024 'Nyay Patra' manifesto, he said, 'The ball is now in the Modi government's court.'
