‘An unbelievable meeting’: Rahul Gandhi claims President Murmu did not deny ‘vote chori’, sought proof

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday (Oct 9) claimed that Indian President Droupadi Murmu “did not deny” the alleged “vote chori” after meeting with INDIA bloc leaders. Instead of “questioning” or “arguing” their statements, the President asked the Opposition leaders to submit proof of the accusations made against the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This comes amid ongoing protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Gandhi said, “The main thing is that I expected the President of India to deny that ‘vote chori’ was taking place. I expected her to say that India has a free and fair electoral system. I was shocked and stunned that the President of India accepted what we said.”

Gandhi added, “I sat in quite an unbelievable meeting. First, we took a memorandum to the President of India. In that memorandum, we clearly stated that the Prime Minister, HM Amit Shah, and CEC Gyanesh Kumar had conspired to destroy Indian democracy.”

He said that the President “in no way denied what we said, questioned what we said, or argued what we said.” Gandhi said that the President “accepted” their statements and then “told us that we needed to provide her with proof of ‘election chori’.”

He further added, “I said that the evidence of ‘election chori’ is known to the entire country. State after state has been stolen. The 2024 election was stolen, and yet the President wants us to submit proof to her. This same group of people will be very happy to present the evidence of 'election chori' that we have collected to the President of India when she is ready to accept it.”

What is INDIA bloc demanding?

The INDIA bloc’s memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu called for sweeping changes to the electoral system, including the removal and prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The opposition alliance also demanded the withdrawal of parliamentary immunity granted to the CEC and urged the government to replace Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with paper ballots.

Another key demand was an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, along with the reinstatement of millions of names allegedly deleted from voter lists across several states.

The demands came as opposition MPs and INDIA bloc leaders marched from Parliament towards Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, escalating their protest against the Election Commission and pressing for Kumar’s resignation.