New Delhi [India], August 8 : Congress leader Supriya Shrinate on Friday backed Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), stating that the foundation of democracy rests on free and fair elections.
She said that if the governments are being elected based on "fraud," it is a matter of concern -- an issue Rahul Gandhi has rightly raised.
"The foundation of democracy is free and fair elections. If the right to vote is being taken away, if governments are being elected not by votes but by fraud, then it is a matter of concern and that is why Rahul Gandhi has raised this issue... The questions raised by Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, are now in the minds of the public as well," Shrinate told ANI.
Questioning technical irregularities in the ECI, Shrinate alleged that whenever the Congress seeks answers from the poll body, its website becomes inaccessible. She demanded that the ECI file an affidavit in the Supreme Court guaranteeing the authenticity of every voter list.
"When we seek answers from the Election Commission, the e-voter pages of their website go down. Why is the Election Commission so scared?... The Election Commission should also file an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that all their voter lists are correct...," she said.
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and the ECI of "collusion" that helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi secure a third term.
"Narendra Modi became Prime Minister with just a margin of 25 seats...Election Commission is helping BJP destroy the electoral system in India...The Election Commission is not giving us the data because of what we did in Mahadevpur (Karnataka Assembly constituency); if we do it in other Lok Sabha seats, then the truth about our democracy will come out. This is the evidence, criminal evidence (pointing to the physical voter list)," Rahul Gandhi said, holding up a voter list.
The Congress leader also alleged that the poll body was "destroying evidence" through the directive on only preserving CCTV and webcasting footage of the election process for only 45 days after the whole process is completed, unless the election result is challenged in court.
"The Election Commission is looking to destroy the evidence across the country. It is the 21st century; you can store as much data as you want on a hard drive, including 10-year-old data. However, the Election Commission wants to destroy the CCTV footage within 45 days without providing the voter list. They are colluding with the BJP to destroy the election system in India," he alleged.