New Delhi [India], August 8 : After the Election Commission asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to either sign a declaration or apologise for his "absurd" allegations, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said the poll body should respond with facts.
Speaking to ANI, the AAP leader accused the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of "planting news" based on sources.
"...Gyanesh Kumar ji should be ashamed. Can the Election Commission plant news quoting sources? If he has any self-respect left, then he should take action against those who ran the information about Rahul Gandhi on sources.... Before the Delhi election, we had told EC about voter list manipulation...But what happened? Where was Rahul Gandhi when we had raised this issue before him? At the time, he should have raised his voice. When he did this, he didn't fulfil his responsibility... The Election Commission should respond to him with facts..." Bhardwaj told ANI.
This comes after the Election Commission of India (ECI) asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to sign the declaration by the Chief Electoral Officers of Maharashtra and Karnataka or apologise for his "absurd" allegations, according to sources.
At a press conference on August 7, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were "choreographed" by the EC to benefit the BJP, which he said appeared "immune to anti-incumbency."
Citing internal analysis, Gandhi said the Congress expected to win 16 seats in Karnataka but ended up with only nine. He said the Congress investigated seven unexpected losses, zeroing in on Mahadevapura, where he alleged vote theft involving 1,00,250 votes.
Presenting Congress's research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes.
"Our internal polling told us we would win 16 seats in Karnataka; we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We focused on Mahadevapur...All data is 2024 data from the Election Commission; the total votes polled in the Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakhs. The BJP won with 6,58,915, securing a margin of 32,707. But then we look at Mahadevapura, where Congress polls 1,15,586 and BJP polls 2,29,632. Congress wins all Vidhan Sabhas but this one," the Congress leader said.
"We found 1,00,250 votes stolen. Stolen in five different ways. Duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address, on a building with 50-60 people living. But when we go there, no record of those people living there. One family living in that house," he said.