New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): Asserting that the "Deshdrohis will be punished", Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged irregularities in the electoral process. Gandhi accused the poll body of failing to protect the "vote chori".
Launching a vitriolic attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the wake of reports that the objections of Election Commissioners, including on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, were being ignored, he said that the person who attacks the vote and fundamentally destroys India's democratic institutions is nothing less than a "deshdrohi".
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Gandhi said, "These people are Deshdrohis...A person who attacks the vote and fundamentally destroys India's democratic institutions is nothing less than a deshdrohi. You can't give him some other words. Deshdrohis will be punished. CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately. PM Modi and Amit Shah will be investigated for their conspiracy to steal elections."
"The fact is that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of this country have attacked and destroyed the democratic architecture of India," he alleged.
While reacting to a report by The Indian Express claiming that two Election Commissioners raised objections over discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, Gandhi accused the Central government and poll body of undermining democracy.
"Mr Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately. We are not going to let democracy be destroyed in India and sit silent, and the people responsible for this are going to be punished. The two Election Commissioners have done a wise thing, and I appreciate it," Gandhi said.
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat "conspirators", Gandhi accused them of being involved in an alleged conspiracy to "steal elections" and termed the issue an attack on the Constitution. "This is the attack on the Constitution of India. Vote chori, kanoon chori and sanstha chori is going on," he said.
Explaining his concerns over the electoral process, Gandhi said the vote was the foundation of the country and formed the basis of the Constitution and institutions.
"The vote is the foundation of our country. Because it is from the vote, which is supposed to be protected by the Election Commission, that our Constitution gets its power. From the Constitution, our laws are made; and from our laws emerge our institutions. This is a chain," he said.
"This chain defines modern India. So, the central question here is: this is not just an attack on the vote. This is an attack on the idea, on the basic infrastructure, on the expression of every single Indian person," Gandhi added.
Gandhi further questioned the absence of anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, saying the phenomenon affects every political party and leader.
"I come from a political family, and I have spent more than 50 years in a political family. In India, there is a fundamental force called anti-incumbency that very quickly starts to resist any government. It does not spare anybody," he said.
"Indira Gandhi won the Bangladesh war, was at the height of her popularity, and then suddenly, within a year or two, massive anti-incumbency, massive pressure. The same exact thing happens to leader after leader after leader. Happens to Congress leaders; it happens to regional parties, but for some reason, it never happens to Mr Narendra Modi, does not happen to Mr Shah, does not happen to the BJP," he added.
Referring to electoral trends in different states, Gandhi said, "Haryana swings from one party to another for 50 years. Suddenly anti-incumbency disappears. Maharashtra swings; suddenly it disappears. Uttar Pradesh swings. Sometimes Samajwadi, sometimes BSP; it disappears. Madhya Pradesh, it disappears. Gujarat, it disappears."
"This has been a fundamental question for us. We can understand the popularity of a person, and the performance of a government, but we cannot understand how anti-incumbency disappears," he said.
"Anti-incumbency does not exist in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It does not exist in North Korea. There is no democracy on this planet where anti-incumbency does not exist," Gandhi added.
He further said that the electoral process was linked directly to constitutional institutions.
"From the vote, which is supposed to be protected by the Election Commission, our Constitution gets its power. From the Constitution, our laws are made, and from our laws emerge our institutions. This is a chain," Gandhi said.
"If the vote has been destroyed, then our Constitution has been destroyed. If our Constitution has been destroyed, our laws are illegal. If our laws are illegal, our institutions are meaningless," he added.
"We have been saying it again and again and again that there is a problem with the vote," Gandhi said.
According to an Indian Express report, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process and other electoral matters. The reported disagreements included issues concerning Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.
The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process.
The ECI maintained that all decisions taken by the Commission, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners.
The issue has triggered reactions from Opposition parties, with Congress leaders questioning the Commission's decision-making process and raising concerns over electoral-roll revisions. The BJP and the Election Commission have defended the SIR exercise. (ANI)
“Deshdrohis will be punished”: Rahul Gandhi demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, reiterates “vote chori” allegations
