EC's 5-point attack on Rahul Gandhi: Poll body calls 'vote theft' remark 'wild'; says he refused to engage

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Friday strongly rebutted allegations of electoral misconduct made by leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, releasing a five-point statement criticising him for making “wild allegations” while refusing to engage with the poll body despite repeated communication.

The Commission stated:

1. ECI sends a mail to him on 12 June 2025. He does not come.
2. ECI sends him a letter on 12 June 2025, he does not respond.
3. He has never sent any letter to ECI on any issue, whatsoever.
4. It is very strange that he is making wild allegations and has now even started threatening EC and its staff. Deplorable!
5. ECI ignores all such irresponsible statements and asks all its staff to continue working impartially and transparently."

The EC had said, "Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis and despite threats being given daily, asks all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements while working impartially and transparently."

The pushback came hours after Rahul Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament that the Election Commission was complicit in "vote theft" and working for the BJP. "We have open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in vote theft. I am saying this with 100% proof," Gandhi said, adding that his party's six-month investigation would soon expose what he called an “atom bomb.”

"As soon as we release it, the entire nation will come to know that Election Commission is working for the BJP to steal votes," he said. Citing suspicions during the Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi alleged that those responsible within the Commission "from top to bottom" were betraying the country. "We won't spare them because they are working against India. This is treason and nothing less than that," he said.

The confrontation comes amid the EC’s release of draft electoral rolls in Bihar following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise ahead of the state assembly elections. The EC reported receiving 7.23 crore enumeration forms. Prior to the exercise, Bihar had 7.93 crore registered voters.

According to the poll panel, around 35 lakh voters had permanently migrated or were untraceable, 22 lakh were reported deceased, and seven lakh were found registered on more than one roll. Additionally, about 1.2 lakh voters did not submit the required forms. The "claims and objections" phase will continue until September 1.