Citizens won't tolerate 'vote chori'; voices against 'capture' of electoral system grow, Congress says
The Congress on Thursday said criticism over what it called the "capture" of the electoral system was growing, asserting that people would no longer tolerate "vote chori" in any form.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the INDIA bloc remained committed to protecting the Constitution and democracy.
In a post on X, Ramesh cited remarks by former Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat, who questioned the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and alleged violations by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
"India's EC used to be 'the gold standard', but its credibility has been destroyed. In his (Rawat's) view, the 2 ECs should have done more to stop the CEC's illegal decisions," the Congress leader said.
In another post, while referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism of changes to online Form 6, Ramesh alleged that the changes were introduced by the CEC in July 2026 to remove Gen Z voters from electoral rolls. He alleged that the move was orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Rawat, in an interview with The Hindu, criticised the manner in which the SIR exercise was carried out and said the scale of voter disenfranchisement was unprecedented since Independence.
He also said Sandhu and Joshi should have forced a vote during Commission meetings to overturn decisions they disagreed with, arguing that the two commissioners together constituted a majority and that the CEC did not have a veto.
The bloc also demanded that future elections be conducted using ballot papers and urged the Supreme Court to expedite cases concerning the SIR and alleged electoral irregularities.
At a meeting attended by leaders of 19 political parties, the opposition decided that all its MPs would march to the Election Commission on October 6. The leaders also plan to meet the President to raise concerns over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.
The INDIA bloc also discussed its demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and said it would continue its campaign until he steps down.
The meeting was held days after The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR that they said were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The Election Commission, responding to the reported differences, has maintained that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures. (with inputs from PTI)
