Rahul vs EC: Rahul Gandhi says poll body 'obliterated and taken over'; claims at least 15 seats were rigged in Lok Sabha elections

Time of India

2 days ago

Rahul Gandhi
NEW DELHI: Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi
on Saturday launched one of his strongest attacks yet on the
Election Commission
, declaring that the country's election system is 'already dead' and alleging that the recent Lok Sabha elections were rigged.
"The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. The Prime Minister of India is the Prime Minister of India with a very slim majority... If 15 seats were rigged, he would not have been the Prime Minister of India," Gandhi said while speaking at the Annual Legal Conclave- 2025 in New Delhi.
He added, "We are going to prove to you in the coming few days how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged and was rigged."
Holding up a copy of the Constitution of India, Gandhi said, "It's very clear that the institution that holds this and protects this has been obliterated and taken over."
Sharpening his criticism of the Election Commission, he said, "We have such proof that will show the whole country that the institution of the Election Commission does not exist. It has disappeared."
"It has taken us 6 months of non-stop work to find this proof... You will see with zero doubt how a Lok Sabha election is stolen. 6.5 lakh voters vote and 1.5 lakh of those voters are fake," Gandhi claimed.
"You will see the shockwave that is going to go through the electoral system when we release this data.
It is literally like an atom bomb," he added.
Gandhi also said he had long suspected irregularities in elections since 2014. "I've been speaking recently about the election system. I always had a suspicion that there was something wrong, right from 2014. I had a suspicion in the Gujarat Assembly elections already. This ability to win sweeping victories. Congress Party doesn't get a single seat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat.
This was surprising to me.
.."
"Whenever we spoke, people said, 'where's the proof'? Then, something happened in Maharashtra. In the Lok Sabha, we won the election. And then 4 months later, we didn't just lose, we were obliterated (in Maharashtra assembly elections). Three formidable parties suddenly just evaporated. We started to look seriously for electoral malpractice. We found it in Maharashtra, 1 crore new voters show up between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
The bulk of those votes go to the BJP... Now I say with absolutely no doubt that we have proof (of cheating)," Gandhi said.
Earlier, on Friday also Rahul Gandhi claimed to have "open and shut" evidence of alleged poll irregularities by the poll authority and said that it would have no place to hide.
"Most importantly, whoever in the Elections Commission is involved in this exercise, right from top to bottom, we will not spare you.
You are working against India and this no less than treason. Wherever you are, even if you are retired, we will find you," said the Lok Sabha LoP.
"The Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis, and despite the daily threats being given, asks all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements and work in a fair and transparent manner," the EC had said on Friday in response to the comments made by Gandhi, as quoted by PTI.