Rahul Gandhi Alleges ‘Match-Fixing’ in EVMs and Voter Lists, Says Congress Will Continue Its Fight
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi told the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday that what he described as “match-fixing” of elections through electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter lists was taking place in the country. He said the Congress would continue its opposition and resistance on the issue, both on the streets and in Parliament.
Gandhi made the remarks during a CWC meeting held at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi. According to people familiar with his remarks, he said the Congress had been raising concerns over what it calls “vote chori” and had highlighted alleged irregularities in elections in Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Gandhi said there were two forms of what he described as “match-fixing” — one involving EVMs and another involving alleged manipulation of voter lists. He claimed that both were taking place, while presenting these as allegations made by the Congress rather than established findings.
He also said that the issue had increasingly entered public and media discussion after the Congress raised it. Gandhi told party leaders that the Congress should continue its campaign of “virodh” and “pratirodh”, or opposition and resistance, from the streets to Parliament.
During the meeting, Gandhi referred to the Congress session held in Lahore in 1930 and the party’s decision at that time to pursue the demand for “Purna Swaraj”. Drawing a comparison with the present political situation, he said parties that believe in democracy should resist when, in his view, the government does not respond to people’s demands.
The Congress has also demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and restoration of names it says were removed from electoral rolls. The party has further called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation over its allegations concerning the conduct of elections.
The Election Commission has rejected the allegations concerning the electoral process. On the issue of differing views among Election Commissioners over the SIR process, the Commission has said that differences of opinion are a normal part of institutional deliberations and maintained that its orders have full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.
The CWC meeting lasted around two and a half hours. The discussions come amid an ongoing political dispute between the Congress and the Election Commission over voter rolls, the SIR exercise and allegations of irregularities in elections.
The allegations raised by Gandhi and the Congress remain politically contested, with the Election Commission maintaining that electoral procedures are being conducted in accordance with the law.
