Latest news with #Declaration
Mint
4 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
EC cites Kamal Nath judgment to counter Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' charges. What was the 2018 SC order?
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi has drawn sharp criticism from the Election Commission over allegations of irregularities in India's electoral rolls. The Congress leader, speaking at a recent press conference on Thursday, alleged that multiple entries and duplications in the voter list compromise the integrity of the electoral process. The Election Commission of India has rejected Gandhi's claims and disregarded established legal procedures. On Friday, the Election Commission cited "The Kamal Nath judgement" that, it said, gives a settled position to the machine-readable document. The poll panel stated that repeatedly raising the same issues shows that Rahul Gandhi has no respect for the Supreme Court of India's decisions. "Law provides a specific procedure for both making objections to the roll and for appealing. Instead of availing the legal processes, he tried to sensationalise the issue by making baseless claims in the media," the poll panel sources said. The ECI is referring to allegations made in 2018 by then Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Kamal Nath that were rejected by the Supreme Court reliability of ECI's voter databases. In 2018, Kamal Nath had approached the Supreme Court claiming that the electoral rolls in Madhya Pradesh showed multiple entries of the same faces, up to 36 times, based on data sourced from a private website. The court, however, found no merit in the claim, particularly after the Election Commission of India (ECI) demonstrated that the supposed discrepancies had already been rectified months prior to the petition. The court refused to grant the relief sought, including the demand for searchable PDF formats of electoral rolls. Rahul Gandhi alleged that similar discrepancies still exist, including multiple entries of the same name across different states. One example he cited was a voter named Aditya Srivastava, allegedly listed in three different State rolls. However, ECI sources assertively said that this error had been corrected months ago, and the updated rolls had been duly published. The poll panel said it is a settled proposition that if law requires a certain thing to happen in a certain manner, then it should be done in that manner only and not in any other manner. "Therefore, if Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against ECI are true, he should have respect for law and sign the Declaration or Apologise to the Nation for raising absurd allegations against ECI," is said. Kamal Nath had sought directions from the Supreme Court for the Election Commission to conduct VVPAT verification in at least 10 per cent randomly selected polling stations and to publish the draft voter list in 'text format' ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in November 2018. In his petition, Kamal Nath said his party identified 60 lakh duplicate voters in the electoral rolls in Madhya Pradesh. Kamal Nath had demanded that draft electoral rolls be published in word format in place of the current practice of having them on the website of the Chief Electoral Officers to help weed out the fake names. The SC bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan found force in the Election Commission's argument that the Election Manual provides for publishing the draft electoral roll in 'text mode'. Kamal Nath cannot claim as a right that the draft electoral roll should be placed on the website in a 'searchable mode,' the court said. 'It is for the ECI to decide the format in which the draft electoral roll is to be published,' Justice Sikri, who wrote the judgment, said.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Tired script': Election Commission slams Rahul Gandhi's ‘vote theft' claim; cites 2018 Kamal Nath case
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday came down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of large-scale voter fraud, accusing him of repeating an old political 'script' and challenging him to either formally verify his claims or apologise to the nation. In a statement, the poll body claimed the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha had raised 'baseless' charges similar to those made in 2018 by then Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath , which were dismissed by the Supreme Court. Rahul Gandhi Releases New Video, Claims More 'Proof' On EC, BJP Collusion in Voter List Fraud Also read: Rahul Gandhi responds to EC's 'sign affidavit' dare; demands full e-voter data 'Rahul Gandhi repeated a tired script': EC 'At his recent press conference, Rahul repeated a tired script. In 2018, it was then Kamal Nath, the then President of MPCC; today, it's the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha playing the same tune,' the EC said. According to the EC, in 2018, Congress leaders attempted to mislead the court by producing documents from a private website to claim errors in electoral rolls, including instances where 'the same face was shown again for as many as 36 voters.' The EC said those defects had been rectified months earlier and the details shared with the party. 'The Court refused to accept the prayer of Kamal Nath. Now, in 2025, they, being aware that the same trick cannot be played in court, are trying to mislead the people by claiming irregularities in the electoral rolls,' it added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Beautiful Women In The World Undo Also read: Priyanka Gandhi slams EC; backs Rahul's claims of voter fraud 'Opposition leader tried to sensationalise issue': EC The Commission also cited a specific case involving the name of Aditya Srivastava, which Rahul claimed appeared in three different states. 'In fact, [this] was rectified months ago,' it said. It further reminded the Congress leader that the Kamal Nath judgment had 'settled' the position on machine-readable electoral rolls, and accused him of disregarding the Supreme Court's decisions. 'Law provides a specific procedure for both making objections to the roll and for making an appeal. Instead of availing the legal processes, he tried to sensationalise the issue by making baseless claims in the media,' the statement said. 'If Rahul believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against the EC are true, he should have respect for the law and sign the Declaration, or apologise to the nation for raising absurd allegations against the EC.' EC vs Rahul Gandhi The standoff follows letters from the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Haryana asking Rahul to submit the names of voters he believes were wrongly included or removed, along with a signed oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The Karnataka CEO reminded him that rolls are prepared transparently under the Representation of the People Act, while Maharashtra and Haryana officials noted that Congress had not filed any formal appeals over alleged discrepancies. On Thursday, Rahul alleged 'vote chori' in a Karnataka constituency involving 1,00,250 votes and irregularities in the rolls. Also read: Rahul Gandhi poses 5 questions day after big 'vote theft' claim; says poll body acting as BJP 'agent' Dismissing the Commission's demand for a signed declaration, he said: 'I am a politician; what I say to the people is my word. I am saying it to the people publicly, take it as an oath. Interestingly, they haven't denied the information.' He accused the EC of colluding with the BJP to 'undermine democracy' and warned polling officials allegedly involved of consequences if the Opposition came to power. He also claimed that the EC was 'destroying evidence' by limiting the preservation of CCTV and webcasting footage to 45 days unless election results were legally challenged. 'It is the 21st century; you can keep as much data as you want in a hard drive, even 10 years old data, but the Election Commission wants to destroy the CCTV footage in 45 days,' he said. The poll body earlier said Rahul had failed to respond to its June 12 letter inviting him to substantiate earlier claims of 'rigging' in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. 'Why? Is it because his media statements were baseless?' EC sources told PTI. Rahul has warned that such alleged irregularities could be repeated in the upcoming Bihar elections .
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
'Tired script': Election Commission blasts Rahul Gandhi's 'vote theft' claim; recalls Kamal Nath case of 2018
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of large-scale voter fraud, accusing him of repeating an old political 'script' and challenging him to either formally verify his claims or apologise to the nation. In a statement on Friday, the poll body claimed the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha had raised 'baseless' charges similar to those made in 2018 by then Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath , which were dismissed by the Supreme Court. 'Rahul Gandhi repeated a tired script': EC 'At his recent press conference, Rahul Gandhi repeated a tired script. In 2018, it was then Kamal Nath, the then President MPCC; today, it's the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha playing the same tune,' the ECI said. According to EC, in 2018, Congress leaders had attempted to mislead the court by producing documents from a private website to claim errors in electoral rolls, including instances where 'the same face was shown again for as many as 36 voters'. The ECI said those defects had been rectified months earlier and shared with the party. 'The Court refused to accept the prayer of Kamal Nath. Now, in 2025, they, being aware that the same trick cannot be played in the Court, tried to mislead the people by claiming irregularities in the electoral rolls,' it added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Family Adopted A New 'Dog', But When The Vet Sees It He Calls The Police Undo 'Oppn leader tried to sensationalise issue': EC The Commission also cited a specific case involving the name of Aditya Srivastava, which Rahul Gandhi had claimed appeared in three different states. 'In fact… was rectified months ago,' it said. It further reminded the Congress leader that the Kamal Nath judgment had 'settled' the position on machine-readable electoral rolls, and accused him of disregarding the Supreme Court's decisions. 'Law provides a specific procedure for both making objections to the roll and for making appeal. Instead of availing the legal processes, he tried to sensationalise the issue by making baseless claims in media,' the statement said. 'If Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against ECI are true, he should have respect for law and sign the Declaration or Apologise to the Nation for raising absurd allegations against ECI. ' EC vs Rahul Gandhi The standoff follows letters from the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana asking Gandhi to submit the names of voters he believes were wrongly included or removed, along with a signed oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The Karnataka CEO reminded him that rolls are prepared transparently under the Representation of the People Act, while Maharashtra and Haryana officials noted that Congress had not filed any formal appeals over alleged discrepancies. On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had alleged 'vote chori' in a Karnataka constituency involving 1,00,250 votes and irregularities in the rolls. Dismissing the Commission's demand for a signed declaration, he said, 'I am a politician, what I say to the people is my word. I am saying it to the people publicly, take it as an oath. Interestingly, they haven't denied the information.' He accused the ECI of colluding with the BJP to 'undermine democracy' and warned polling officials allegedly involved of consequences if the Opposition came to power. He also claimed that EC was 'destroying evidence' by limiting the preservation of CCTV and webcasting footage to 45 days unless election results were legally challenged. 'It is the 21st century, you can keep as much data as you want in a hard drive, even 10 years old data, but the Election Commission wants to destroy the CCTV footage in 45 days,' he said. The poll body earlier said Gandhi had failed to respond to its June 12 letter inviting him to substantiate earlier claims of 'rigging' in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. 'Why? Is it because his media statements were baseless?' EC sources told PTI. Gandhi has warned that such alleged irregularities could be repeated in the upcoming Bihar elections .
The Print
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
‘Sign declaration or apologise for absurd allegations': ECI on Rahul's ‘vote chori' assertion
ECI asked Rahul Gandhi to apologise if he does not sign the affidavits. ECI sources said, 'If Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against ECI are true, he should have no problem in signing the Declaration.' New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to sign the declaration by Chief Electoral Officers of Maharashtra and Karnataka or apologise for his 'absurd' allegations, sources said. 'If Rahul Gandhi does not sign the Declaration, it would mean that he does not believe in his analysis and resultant conclusions and absurd allegations. In which case, he should apologise to the nation. Therefore, he has two options: Either sign the Declaration or apologise to the Nation for raising absurd allegations against ECI,' sources said. This comes after Rahul Gandhi claimed 1,00,250 'fake votes' in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka to ensure a win for the BJP. The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) responded in a strongly worded letter asking him to sign an affidavit. 'It is understood that during a Press Conference held today, you had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the Electoral Rolls cited at Para 3. You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed Declaration/Oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the name(s) of such elector(s) so that necessary proceedings can be initiated…' the letter stated. On Gandhi's allegations of 'voter fraud' in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) asked him to submit a sworn affidavit and provide specific evidence. 'It is understood that during a Press Conference held today, you had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the Electoral Rolls…You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed Declaration/Oath along with the name(s) of such elector(s) so that necessary proceedings can be initiated,' the CEO's letter to Rahul Gandhi said. The CEO also reiterated that the electoral rolls were 'prepared in a transparent manner,' and noted that both the draft and final electoral rolls were shared with the Congress in August and September 2024. 'The electoral rolls were shared in August 2024 and September 2024, and the party did not file any appeals during that time,' the CEO added. This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. Also read: Rahul alleges 'theft' of 1 lakh votes in Karnataka's Mahadevapura seat— 'elections are choreographed'
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Poll body officials to Rahul Gandhi after voter fraud allegations: 'Sign declaration or...'
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of large-scale voter fraud in Karnataka, challenging the Congress leader to either sign a formal declaration affirming his claims or apologise to the nation. Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference at Congress headquarters in New Delhi.(Sanjeev Verma/HT) 'If Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and believes that his allegations against ECI are true, he should have no problem in signing the Declaration. If he does not sign, it would mean he does not believe in his own conclusions and absurd allegations. In that case, he should apologise to the nation,' ECI sources said. "Therefore, he has two options: Either sign the Declaration or Apologise to the Nation for raising absurd allegations against ECI," sources said. On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi accused the poll body of 'colluding' with the BJP to 'steal' over 100,000 votes in the Mahadevapura assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat during the 2024 general elections. Presenting his party's findings, Gandhi claimed a six-month analysis by a 40-member team uncovered thousands of duplicate entries, fake addresses, invalid photos, and suspicious Form 6 applications. Gandhi's allegations came in a 72-minute presentation in Delhi, ahead of a Congress rally in Karnataka, where he claimed that a six-month analysis by a 40-member team, using physical electoral rolls 'seven feet thick' and in non-machine-readable format, revealed 100,250 'stolen' votes. The Congress leader argued that while his party led in all other assembly segments of Bangalore Central, the BJP secured a decisive lead of 114,000 votes in Mahadevapura, enabling it to win the seat by 32,707 votes. 'EC was colluding with the BJP to steal elections… This is why they don't give us machine-readable data,' Gandhi alleged. The BJP won 240 seats in the 2024 general elections, forming the government with allies after the opposition INDIA bloc secured 234 seats. Gandhi claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government survived with a 'slender majority' and suggested 'stealing' 25 seats was enough to retain power. His claims prompted immediate reactions from multiple state chief electoral officers, including those in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, who wrote to Gandhi asking for specific names of electors along with a signed declaration under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, to enable proceedings. The Karnataka CEO's letter stated: 'You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed declaration/oath… so that necessary proceedings can be initiated.' Uttar Pradesh's CEO countered one of Gandhi's examples, saying names flagged as duplicate voters in UP did not appear in its rolls. BJP leaders also launched a scathing attack on Gandhi. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused him of a 'larger conspiracy' to undermine democratic institutions, while senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said Gandhi had 'crossed all limits of shamelessness' by calling the EC fraudulent. BJP MP from Bangalore Central, PC Mohan, dismissed the claims as 'another drama' and questioned why no legal challenge was filed within the statutory 45-day period after results.
