Priyanka Gandhi calls alleged election rigging an act of treason

• Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said it would amount to treason if election officials knew of rigging and allowed it to happen

• Her remarks followed a report that two Election Commissioners had repeatedly raised concerns about decisions linked to electoral rolls

• Election Commission officials say decisions on the Special Intensive Revision were unanimous

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said it would be “an act of treason” if chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar knew elections were being rigged and allowed it to happen. Speaking to reporters in Nilambur, she framed the allegation as conditional and said any such conduct would be a serious assault on democracy.

“If the elections are unfair and are being rigged in any manner and the ECI is assisting in that, and the Election Commissioner is not only aware of it, but also allowing it to happen, then it is a very very serious assault on democracy,” she said.

Priyanka said her brother, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, had repeatedly raised concerns about what he described as bias and injustice in the Election Commission’s conduct. She pointed to reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had themselves flagged issues to Kumar.

The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times in 10 months to decisions made in the poll panel’s name. The reported concerns covered voter registration, deletions, appeals and control of electoral-roll data during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Election Commission officials have said that all its decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were unanimous and approved by all three commissioners. They acknowledged that Sandhu and Joshi had raised issues but said those concerns did not change the Commission’s final decisions.

With PTI inputs