Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, November 1, warned that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar would be removed from his post and eventually sent to jail while addressing an INDIA bloc rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi Says CEC Gyanesh Kumar Will Go to Jail
The rally was organised by the opposition alliance to protest against alleged irregularities in the electoral process and the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
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Addressing supporters, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of facilitating alleged vote theft during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that votes were manipulated through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and changes to voter lists, and described the 2024 general election as illegal.
“I am telling every citizen and every youth of India: Gyanesh Kumar will be removed from the post of Chief Election Commissioner. Gyanesh Kumar will go to jail,” Gandhi said.
BJP’s electoral victories were linked to irregularities in the voting process
He further alleged that the BJP’s electoral victories were linked to irregularities in the voting process. Gandhi also accused the ruling establishment of weakening democratic institutions and said that the Opposition would pursue legal action over what it calls vote theft.
The Congress leader raised concerns over the alleged deletion of voters’ names from electoral rolls, claiming that 15 per cent of voters had been removed after the 2024 elections. These allegations were made by Gandhi during the rally and have not been established as findings of electoral wrongdoing.
Several senior INDIA bloc leaders attended the gathering, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
The opposition’s protest also focused on the SIR exercise, with leaders raising concerns about voter access, the deletion of names and the need to protect eligible citizens’ voting rights.
The BJP has rejected the opposition’s allegations, while leaders from the ruling party have defended the SIR exercise as a process aimed at improving the accuracy of electoral rolls.
The rally followed an opposition programme against the Chief Election Commissioner held in Delhi on October 31. Through the demonstration, INDIA bloc leaders sought to highlight their concerns over electoral transparency and accountability.
