The Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc has hit back at the Election Commission over the ongoing vote theft allegations and the Bihar SIR controversy. Addressing a press conference on Monday, leaders from the Congress, RJD, CPI, Samajwadi Party, DMK, TMC and other parties once again raised serious questions about the Election Commission and its functioning. In a fiery joint press conference by the Opposition parties, CPI-M leader John Brittas accused the Election Commission of being biased and unfair. "We feel that EC is biased, selective and unfair," he added. Opposition parties also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of acting like a BJP spokesperson, who, according to them, failed to answer their questions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and issues related to voter list irregularities. This came a day after the Election Commission slammed Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for using "improper words" such as "vote chori".
Gaurav Gogoi hits out at the CEC
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi claimed that the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar did not reply to the important questions being raised by the political parties, and is running away from its responsibility. "The right to vote is the most important right given by the Constitution to a common citizen. Democracy depends on it. EC is the body meant to protect it," he said. Gogoi further said the CEC should have answered valid questions asked by the Opposition. "On the contrary, he raised questions on political parties and attacked them. It would have been better if they had told why SIR was done in such a hurry, when elections are just three months away, without discussing with political parties; why are they in a rush to announce SIR?" Gogoi alleged.
What did RJD leader Manoj Jha say?
Meanwhile, senior RJD leader Manoj Jha took sharp aim at the Election Commission (EC), asserting that the Constitution exists to safeguard democratic principles, not to serve as a cover for actions that undermine its very spirit. Speaking at the presser, Jha said, "The Constitution is meant for protection, but it cannot become a shield for your defiance of Constitutional morality."
Mahua Moita hits out at EC
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also accused the Election Commission with dereliction of duty. Speaking at the press conference, the TMC leader said that the matter of duplicate EPIC voter cards, earlier flagged by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, remains unresolved. Moitra went a step further, demanding action against "past Election Commissions for fraudulent voter lists" and calling for the immediate dissolution of the Lok Sabha. "Is the list on which the Lok Sabha election was done fraudulent? If that is true, the current and previous Election Commissioners should be prosecuted, and this Lok Sabha should be dissolved immediately," she said.
SP leader Ramgopal Yadav's remarks
Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said that while the EC is asking Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to give an affidavit with his complaint, his party SP had submitted affidavits with complaints of around 18,000 voters being removed from the list in 2022, but no action was taken. "In the 2022 UP polls, when Akhilesh Yadav said names of SP supporters have been removed from the voter list, we gave affidavits, but no action has been taken," he said. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra said that if the voter list, on which the last general election was conducted, is not correct, the Lok Sabha should be dissolved.
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