NEW DELHI, Aug 8: The Election Commission on Friday accused Rahul Gandhi of re-cycling old allegations of poll irregularities which were settled by the Supreme Court, and asked the Congress leader to give a written declaration on his claims on wrongful entries in voters’ list or tender an apology.
Sources in the poll authority dubbed Gandhi’s allegations on vote theft in at least three states as a “tired script” and likened it to “new wine in an old bottle”.
The sources said the issue, first raised by then Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath in 2018, was settled by the apex court.
The Election Commission also dismissed Gandhi’s claims on non-functioning websites.
“No issues with Election Commission of India’s website. Functioning seamlessly since its launch,” the poll authority said in a statement.
The Commission said the primary site/link for E-Roll download for all states has been working without any issues since it was launched, and continues to be operational currently as well.
The Congress leader hit back, asserting that he has already taken oath in Parliament to uphold the Constitution, indicating that there was no need for him to give a signed declaration to the poll authority on his claims.
The sources said in 2018, Congress leaders tried to mislead the Supreme Court by producing documents from a private website to demonstrate that there were mistakes in electoral rolls, contending that the same face was shown for as many as 36 voters.
The defects flagged by the Congress leaders were already rectified and the copy of the same was supplied to the party, the sources said, adding that this ground was made to seek the searchable PDF format for electoral rolls.
The top court refused to accept the prayer of Kamal Nath.
The sources said the Congress leaders were aware that the same trick cannot be repeated in the court, so they tried to mislead people by claiming irregularities in electoral rolls, contending that the same names were occurring at different places.
The sources said the name of Aditya Srivastava, which was alleged to be in the electoral rolls of three different states, was rectified months ago.
They said instead of availing the legal process, Gandhi tried to sensationalise the issue by making baseless claims before the media.
As Gandhi continued with his attack on the EC alleging vote theft in at least three states, the poll panel said if he believes in his analysis and feels that his allegations against it are true, he should have “no problem” in signing a declaration under electoral rules and submit the names wrongfully added or removed from the voters’ list.However, if Gandhi does not sign the declaration, it would mean that he does not believe in his analysis and resultant conclusions and “absurd allegations”. In which case he should apologise to the nation, the sources said.
The chief electoral officers of three states on Thursday asked Gandhi to share the names of electors he claimed were either included or excluded wrongfully from the voter lists along with a signed declaration for the poll authorities to initiate “necessary proceedings” in the matter.
In a fact check post on X, the Election Commission said it has not removed voters’ list from the websites of the state chief electoral officers and anybody can download the electoral rolls.It was responding to a user’s post alleging that e-voter rolls for many states were removed after Thursday’s press conference by Gandhi.Addressing a Vote Adhikar rally in Bengaluru on Friday, Gandhi said he has already taken oath in Parliament to uphold the Constitution.(PTI)
