‘Chunaav ka chawkidaar’ protected ‘vote chors’: Rahul Gandhi’s dig at EC

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 19 September, renewed his allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft) and criticised the Election Commission (EC), calling it an “election watchman” that “stayed awake, watched the theft, and protected the thieves.”

Rahul Gandhi’s remarks follow his recent intensified attack on the poll panel, accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of shielding those who “destroyed democracy”. To support his claims, he cited data from Karnataka’s Aland constituency, alleging systematic deletion of votes belonging to Congress supporters, and also referenced Maharashtra’s Rajura constituency where he claimed 6,850 voters were added fraudulently through automated software.

In a post in Hindi on X, Rahul Gandhi elaborated on the alleged modus operandi: “Wake up at 4 am. Eliminate two voters in 36 seconds. Then go back to sleep — this is how vote theft happens!” He also shared a 36-second video explaining the process during a press conference.

The Congress leader warned the Election Commission to provide the Karnataka CID with the requested information within a week, failing which he claimed it would be clear that the poll body is complicit in the “murder of the Constitution.” Gandhi emphasized that his revelations so far were not the “hydrogen bomb” disclosures he had promised would come later.

The Election Commission, however, dismissed the allegations as “incorrect and baseless,” stating that “no deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi.”

Rahul Gandhi’s earlier statement on Thursday had called upon India’s youth and students to defend the Constitution, protect democracy, and stop vote theft, asserting: “I always stand with them. Jai Hind!”

He urged CEC Gyanesh Kumar to stop “giving excuses” and to release evidence to the Karnataka CID immediately, pressing the chief election official to act on his constitutional duties.

With PTI inputs