AICC Secretary Manoj Chauhan alleges the Election Commission is colluding with the BJP to orchestrate nationwide vote theft, demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner and a return to ballot papers for future elections.
Congress Alleges Nationwide Electoral Fraud
All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary and Co-In-charge of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) Manoj Chauhan said that the warnings being issued by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over “vote-theft” for the last two years have now been proven true. According to a release, Chauhan, while addressing a press conference at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati on Sunday on the ‘Save Vote, Save Democracy’ campaign launched nationwide under the leadership of Gandhi, against alleged electoral fraud, launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission and the ruling BJP at the Centre. He alleged that a sinister conspiracy was underway to destroy democracy through large-scale electoral fraud across the country.
Chauhan claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised serious objections nearly 14 times over the past ten months regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and irregularities in Form 6. However, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar allegedly disregarded all these objections and took decisions according to his own preferences. “The Election Commission has colluded with Modi and Shah to undermine the country’s democracy and pave the way for forming a government through vote theft,” he alleged, as per the release.
Supreme Court Judgment and Legal Immunity
Referring to a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 2023, the Congress leader said the apex court had directed that the committee responsible for appointing Election Commissioners should include the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. “However, the Modi government subsequently amended the law in Parliament, using its numerical strength to remove the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee and replace the position with a Union Cabinet Minister, thereby securing a majority favourable to the government,” Chauhan said.
Furthermore, he alleged that the Election Commissioners had been granted comprehensive legal immunity from civil and criminal proceedings for decisions taken during their tenure. Expressing his indignation over the matter, Chauhan said, “First, people of their choice were appointed to facilitate vote theft, and then they were granted complete legal protection so that democracy could be undermined and governments formed without any hindrance.”
Demands for Electoral Reform and Protests
At the press conference, Chauhan made it clear that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the leadership of the INDIA bloc had put forward three clear demands in connection with the movement, and there would be no compromise on any of them. The first demand is the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Second, the entire SIR process must be scrapped, as it has allegedly led to the wrongful deletion of the names of approximately 13 million voters across the country. Third, all upcoming Assembly elections and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections must be conducted using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), he said.
Issuing a strong warning, Chauhan said, “Just as a king’s life was said to be trapped inside a parrot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foundation of power, too, will crumble the moment Gyanesh Kumar resigns.” Chauhan also announced that a massive protest rally would be organised by the Congress and the INDIA bloc at the historic Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on November 1, with a target of bringing together more than one million people. Further large-scale programmes would be held in Delhi on November 25 and 26, he added.
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