“Serious questions” that ECI must “seriously address”: Tharoor on vote chori

Citing Rahul Gandhi's poll rigging claims, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on 8 August, Friday, said these are "serious questions" which must be seriously addressed in the interest of all voters and urged the Election Commission to act urgently.

In a post on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said India's democracy is too precious to allow its credibility to be destroyed by incompetence, carelessness or worse, deliberate tampering.

Tagging a post by the Congress on Gandhi's press conference, in which the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged a "huge criminal fraud" in polls, Tharoor said these are "serious questions" which must be seriously addressed in the interest of all parties and all voters.

"Our democracy is too precious to allow its credibility to be destroyed by incompetence, carelessness or worse, deliberate tampering. @ECISVEEP must urgently act & @SpokespersonECI should keep the nation informed," Tharoor said in his post.

At a press conference on 7 August, Thursday, Gandhi made explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in polls through a collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission.

He showcased an analysis of a constituency in Karnataka and said it was "a crime against the Constitution".

Claiming the "vote chori model" was being used in many constituencies across the country, Gandhi also said that the judiciary needs to get involved in this, because "the democracy that we love so much does not exist any more".

Gandhi said what his party collected through research was "criminal evidence" and alleged that the Election Commission was busy destroying such proof across the country.

Edited PTI inputs