New Delhi [India], August 8 : Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday slammed the Election Commission after Maharashtra and Karnataka Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) asked Rahul Gandhi to sign the affidavits for his "vote theft" claim.
Speaking to the reporters outside the Parliament, Priyanka questioned the EC's timing for the affidavit and claimed that a petition regarding election results has to be filed within 30 days of the results.
"Understand the petition properly. As per the rule, you have to submit the affidavit within 30 days or else nothing will happen, so why are they asking for an affidavit? There has been such a big revelation, and even if it was unintentional, you should investigate it. Why are you not giving the voter list? Why are you not investigating? Rather, you are asking for an affidavit. What is a bigger oath than what we took in the Parliament?" she said.
She added that the data presented by Congress is in the public domain.
"We are saying everything in public and stating there are 40,000 fake votes. If you add 1 lakh fake votes in an Assembly seat, so whoever you want will win," the Congress MP added.
Taking a jibe at the BJP and ECI, she asked the Centre to investigate the matter.
She said, "Leaders of the INDIA bloc will discuss the way forward. But it is clear that there is a mess in this matter. The way BJP leaders are replying makes it clear. If you go to a teacher and allege cheating, will the teacher slap you, or will they check for cheating? Here they are abusing him (Rahul Gandhi) and asking him to sign the affidavit. You are the government, if you are not involved, investigate it."
When asked about the State Election Commission's claim that Rahul Gandhi was wrong, she said, "How do they know it's wrong, have they investigated it? There can be no matter bigger than this. This is the democracy of our nation, it is not a joke."
Reiterating Rahul Gandhi's remarks, she added, "It is not about one party. They have a bigger responsibility. If they feel their responsibility is only to the BJP, they need to rethink. As my brother said, a day will come when other people are in power and those who have colluded for the destruction of democracy will have to answer for it."
On Thursday, while 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 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 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.