‘Be transparent and release digital voter rolls’: Rahul Gandhi steps up attack on EC; launches ‘Vote Chori’ website | India News

NEW DELHI: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday escalated his confrontation with the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of undermining the democratic process and launching a dedicated platform to mobilise public support. In a post on X, Rahul wrote: “Vote Chori is an attack on the foundational idea of ‘one man, one vote’. A clean voter roll is imperative for free and fair elections. Our demand from the EC is clear – be transparent and release digital voter rolls so that people and parties can audit them. Join us and support our demand – visit [http://votechori.in/ecdemand](http://votechori.in/ecdemand) or give a missed call on 9650003420. This fight is to protect our democracy.”The move follows his recent allegations that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were “choreographed” by the EC to benefit the BJP, which he described as “immune to anti-incumbency.” Citing Congress’ internal analysis, Gandhi said the party had expected to win 16 seats in Karnataka but secured only nine. He claimed a detailed review of seven unexpected losses pointed to massive “vote theft” in Mahadevapura constituency, involving 100,250 votes stolen through duplicate entries, fake addresses and bulk registrations at single locations.“This is Election Commission data. Interestingly, they haven’t denied the information. They haven’t told the voter list that Rahul Gandhi is talking about is wrong. Why don’t you say it’s wrong? Because you know the truth. You know that we know that you have done this across the country,” Gandhi said at a press conference last week.The poll body has repeatedly pushed back, urging Gandhi to submit a signed declaration under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with names of the alleged duplicate voters. In a statement on Saturday, the ECI said he should “either give a Declaration as per rules or apologise to the country for his false allegations.” Sources argued that if Gandhi truly believed his claims, he should have no hesitation in signing, ANI reported.The BJP also hit back, with its national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accusing the Congress of blaming institutions for electoral defeats without producing evidence. Karnataka Minister G Parameshwara, however, backed Gandhi, saying the state Congress unit would lodge a formal complaint on his behalf.Sharad Pawar, chief of the NCP-SCP, also lent weight to Gandhi’s concerns, recalling that two individuals had approached him before the Maharashtra Assembly elections claiming they could guarantee 160 seats out of 288 – an offer both he and Gandhi rejected as “not our path.”