'Stop false narrative and give proof’: Election Commission slams Rahul Gandhi over 'voter fraud' claims

Amidst constant attacks by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding fudging voter data, the Election Commission on Thursday (August 14) said rather than resorting to manufacturing false narrative with the help of "dirty words" like 'vote chori' (vote theft), evidence should be produced. In a statement, the EC said the "one person one vote" law is already in place since the first elections in 1951-1952. "If anyone has any proof of any person actually voting twice in any election, it should be shared with ECI with a written affidavit rather than colouring all the electors of India as 'chor' without any proof," it said.

The poll body said that attempting to build a false narrative through the employment of "dirty words" such as "vote chori" against Indian voters is not only an attack on the crore of Indian voters directly but also an attack on the integrity of lakhs of election officials.

Rahul Gandhi, Lok Sabha opposition leader, last week referenced data to make the claim that over one lakh votes were 'stolen' in Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha's Mahadevpura assembly constituency in the 2024 elections, leading to the loss of a Congress candidate. The Election Commission had instructed Gandhi to present a written statement in support of his allegations.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (August 13) claimed that he had a special experience of sharing tea with some "dead" voters from Bihar and thanked the Election Commission (EC) for it. Seven Bihar voters approached the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha at his residence and narrated their experience of how the EC had declared them "dead" and deleted their names from electoral rolls.

“There have been many interesting experiences in life, but I never got the chance to have tea with 'dead people'. For this unique experience, thank you Election Commission!,” Gandhi wrote in a post in Hindi on social media platform X. He also posted a video of his interaction with the "dead" voters. In it, Rahul Gandhi can be heard instructing them to walk around and look at Delhi since the "dead" cannot even be issued tickets.