New Delhi, 17 August (Kiran News). The Election Commission, without naming Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday refuted his allegations of voter fraud and said he must submit an affidavit within seven days or apologise to the nation. The Commission stated it would not respond to such allegations without an affidavit. The Election Commission also clarified that errors in the voter list do not constitute fake voting.
At a special press conference organised at the National Media Centre in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar addressed the allegations being made by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. He also expressed his views on the special intensive revision process currently underway in Bihar. On the allegations against the Election Commission by Rahul Gandhi, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that he must either submit an affidavit or apologise to the nation; there is no third option. If the affidavit is not received within seven days, it will mean that all these allegations are baseless.
The Chief Election Commissioner made it clear that it is everyone’s collective responsibility to keep the voter list error-free. Errors in the voter list do not indicate fake or wrongful voting. He said that such errors are normal, as the list is prepared on a very large scale through a decentralised process. There is also a process for bringing attention to these errors, which can be done easily at the local level before polling. After polling, an affidavit can be submitted as per the rules, which the Election Commission can investigate.
The Election Commission stated that after elections in Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, it did not receive any such affidavits. On Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, the Commission said that simply showing a PPT cannot bring lakhs of voters under scrutiny. They said that voter lists and voting are different matters—errors can be in the list, but this does not affect the integrity of the voting process. Making allegations based on incorrect data and PPTs is like weakening the election process.
Kumar said that political parties have the right to register objections in time, but making allegations after the deadline is just politics. The Commission reiterated that including every eligible person in the list and removing ineligible ones is its responsibility. Regarding Bihar, political parties have time until 1 September.
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