- Rahul Gandhi claims elections since 2024 are 'rigged'.
- Demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged discrepancies.
- Questions disappearance of anti-incumbency in BJP-ruled states.
Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at the Election Commission of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party over a report on discrepancies in SIR and the functioning of the poll body. Gandhi called electoral discrepancies a chain of deliberate attempts from vote-chori (vote theft) to Kanun-chori (law theft) and then Sanstha-chori (institute theft).
He demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation while terming all elections since the 2024 general polls as 'rigged.'
"The Election Commission is the institutional protector of the vote... I have shown it with proof, and there is already more than enough information to make this a 100 % certainty that Indian elections, Lok Sabha elections, 2024 election, Vidhan Sabha elections are all being rigged," Gandhi said during a press conference.
"Now two election commissioners are saying that Mr Gyanesh Kumar is responsible for the chaos and the damage that has taken place to our voting system. From vote-chori comes Kanun-chori.... From Kanun-chori comes Sanstha chori — institutions. This is the chain that has taken place... If the vote has been stolen and the MPs sitting in parliament are there based on a stolen vote, then any law they are making is illegal, and any institutional change they make is also illegal," he added.
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PM Modi, Shah will be investigated
Gandhi accused PM Modi and HM Amit Shah of 'destroying democracy' and warned to investigate them. "Modi, Shah will be investigated for conspiracy to steal elections; we won't let democracy be demolished, will not remain silent," Rahul Gandhi added.
How did anti-incumbency disappear?
He also questioned the 'disappearance' of anti-incumbency against the BJP leaders and governments across the states.
Speaking at a press conference, Gandhi listed the examples of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, arguing that the states saw swings from one party to another until the BJP came to power.
"Haryana swings from one party to another for 50 years. Suddenly anti-incumbency disappears. Maharashtra swings; suddenly it disappears. Uttar Pradesh swings. Sometimes Samajwadi, sometimes BSP; it disappears. Madhya Pradesh, it disappears. Gujarat, it disappears. This has been a fundamental question for us," he said.
In an apparent attempt to address the popular perspective of PM Modi's popularity and the Central government's performance, Gandhi argued that the disappearance of anti-incumbency is beyond understanding.
The Congress leader recalled former PM Indira Gandhi's peak popularity after the 1971 war and how it plunged within two years.
He went on to invoke Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime and North Korea to say that anti-incumbency does not exist in authoritarian systems.
"Anti-incumbency does not exist in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It does not exist in North Korea. There is no democracy on this planet where anti-incumbency does not exist," he said.