Taking strong exception of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s comments that his party has an “atom bomb” of an evidence to prove ‘vote chori’ by the Election Commission (EC) for the BJP, the poll body on Friday termed his statement as “baseless” and “irresponsible” and advised its officials not to pay heed to such allegations and threats.
In a statement, the poll body said, “The Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis and despite daily threats being given, urges all election officials to disregard such irresponsible statements and continue to work impartially, fairly and transparently.” The EC said that its primary focus remains on upholding democratic values and ensuring free and fair elections across the country.
Continuing his campaign against the EC, Rahul had claimed to have “open and shut” evidence of alleged poll irregularities by the poll authority and said that it would have no place to hide.
The poll body also said an email and a letter had been sent to Gandhi in June, inviting him to meet and discuss the voter roll issue, but he had not responded. “Despite the daily threats being given, we ask all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements and work in a fair and transparent manner,” the panel said. It pointed out that the Congress leader had been invited to discuss the voter rolls issue, but had not even responded.
“EC sends a mail to him 12 June 2025. He does not come. EC sends him a letter on 12 June 2025, he does not respond. He has never sent any letter to EC on any issue whatsoever. It is very strange that he is making wild allegations and has now even started threatening EC and its staff. Deplorable!” it said in the statement.”EC ignores such irresponsible statements and asks its entire staff to continue working impartially and transparently,” it added.
The opposition has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against the SIR, alleging the EC’s exercise was aimed at “disenfranchising voters” in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections. They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.
Asked about the issue, Rahul said, “I have said ‘vote chori’ is happening and now we have open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in vote chori,” Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex here.
“I am not saying this lightly. I am saying this with 100 per cent proof. As soon as we release it the whole country would know that EC is indulging in ‘vote chori’. It is doing it for the BJP,” he said.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also warned that those people in the EC who are involved in this, right from the top to the bottom, should remember that they will not be spared because they have indulged in “treason”.
His remarks came on a day the Election Commission published the draft electoral rolls for Bihar, following the completion of the month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.
Responding to Congress leader’s claim that this party has an “atom bomb” of evidence to prove poll irregularities, the BJP on Friday took a swipe at him, asking him to “flow like water” instead of considering to “explode like a bomb”. The ruling party also slammed Gandhi for using “undemocratic and undignified” language to target the Election Commission. “If they will explode a bomb, we will save the Constitution,” it said.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju accused Rahul of resorting to “dangerous behaviour” and running a “malicious campaign” to discredit constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission as part of a conspiracy to weaken democracy in the country.
Hitting back at Rahul for his “vote chori” remarks targeting EC, Rijiju said the Congress leader was acting in a “childish” manner by running a campaign against the poll authority after losing a series of elections. “When they (Congress) win elections, everything is hunky dory. But, when they lose elections, the Election Commission is to blame. This is a conspiracy to weaken democracy,” Rijiju, the parliamentary affairs minister, said.
Replying to reporters’ query on the Congress leader’s remarks, BJP leader Sambit Patra said, “Will Rahul Gandhi explodes like a bomb? What do you think? Their job is to explode. They have no other work to do.” He said the Opposition party speaks of such things because they have no faith in democracy. “Think what kind of language this is: I (Gandhi) will explode on the Election Commission!” Patra told reporters at the BJP headquarters. “You say ‘I will go to Supreme Court against the Election Commission’ or ‘I will protest against it in a democratic manner’, but ‘exploding like a bomb’? The language (of Gandhi) itself is undemocratic and in dignified,” Patra said.
The BJP leader said the language Gandhi used shows that “these people want to explode like bombs”. “We are those who have faith in democracy. If they explode an atom bomb, we will save the Constitution,” Patra added.