President sought evidence of ‘vote chori’, says Rahul Gandhi after opposition’s meeting on CEC row
New Delhi: Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said President Droupadi Murmu had asked the opposition delegation to provide evidence to substantiate its allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft) following a meeting over the controversy surrounding Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
A delegation of INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, met the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted a memorandum alleging electoral irregularities and an attempt to undermine Indian democracy.
The other members of the delegation were Mamata All India Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee, J&K Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah, NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, CPI-M General Secretary M. A. Baby, RJD Rajya Sabha member Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, CPI General Secretary D. Raja, Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Rai, and VCK President and MP Dr Thirumaavalavan Tholkappiyan.
The meeting took place after several days of protests by Opposition leaders against the Election Commission, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged irregularities in the electoral process. The Opposition has also been demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Gandhi said the delegation had raised concerns about the alleged role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
“We submitted a memorandum to the President of India, informing her that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar are conspiring to destroy Indian democracy,” he said.
Gandhi added that the President asked the delegation to provide evidence supporting its allegations. “She asked us to provide evidence to substantiate what we have said. We will submit the evidence to her whenever she is available,” Gandhi said.
He described the meeting as satisfactory, noting that the President had neither rejected nor questioned the delegation’s submissions.
Gandhi further announced that the opposition would approach the Supreme Court on Monday with a memorandum to the Chief Justice of India.
Congress President Kharge said the President had listened to the delegation patiently. “Leaders from our alliance met the President and submitted a memorandum. We apprised the President of the agitation we launched four days ago regarding the theft of votes,” he said.
He said the delegation highlighted what it described as serious concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. “We underlined the issue of vote theft and the grave error committed by Gyanesh Kumar. We demanded that EVMs be set aside and elections be conducted using ballot papers,” Kharge said.
Mamata Banerjee said: “We have submitted a memorandum. We have seen from a positive outlook that she said she will investigate; she will go through the details, and she needs evidence.”
“She has asked us to send evidence, which we said we will do. The country is very concerned, and you, as a custodian of the Constitution, should take proper care so the democracy remains,” she added.