Rahul Gandhi demands CEC's resignation, alleges elections rigged amid SIR row

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's immediate resignation and alleged that elections in India were being rigged, escalating the opposition's attack on the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

 At a press conference at the Congress headquarters, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he was "100 per cent certain" of his allegations. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Kumar of undermining the vote and described them as "deshdrohis". These are Gandhi's allegations, not established findings.

Gandhi's remarks followed an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to decisions concerning electoral rolls and voter registration. He said the reported objections reinforced questions he had been raising about the poll body's functioning.

He argued that the vote was the foundation of the Constitution and democratic institutions, and said Kumar should resign. Gandhi also said Modi and Shah would be investigated over his allegations. He questioned how anti-incumbency could, in his view, disappear from Indian elections.

The Election Commission has said that its final decisions on the SIR were unanimous and that internal observations were part of its normal decision-making process. The BJP, responding to Gandhi's allegations, accused him of trying to create hype over the report of differences within the poll panel.

(With inputs from PTI)