New Delhi, August 19: India’s Election Commission on Sunday gave opposition leader Rahul Gandhi a week to submit an affidavit supporting his allegations of voter roll manipulation in Karnataka or apologise to the nation, escalating a dispute over election integrity.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in his first press conference since taking office, rejected Congress demands for machine-readable voter lists and polling-day CCTV footage, saying such disclosures would breach voter privacy.
Gandhi, who alleged large-scale discrepancies in voter rolls in the Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore Central – a seat won by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in last year’s general election – has so far declined to put his claims under oath.
“You have to give an affidavit or apologise to the nation. If within seven days an affidavit is not given, then it means allegations are wrong,” Kumar said.
The CEC insisted the poll body does not discriminate between ruling and opposition parties, but did not answer questions on why BJP lawmaker Anurag Thakur, who made similar claims about voter rolls in Rae Bareli – Gandhi’s own constituency – was not asked to file an affidavit.
Kumar also noted that election petitions must be filed within 45 days of results being declared, calling it an “insult to the Constitution” to raise allegations of “vote theft” beyond that deadline. Complaints by the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had similarly not been entertained for being out of time, he said.
“More than one crore employees are engaged in the election exercise. Can ‘vote chori’ (vote theft) happen in such a transparent process?” Kumar asked, dismissing opposition charges as attempts to “confuse people” after unfavourable results.
