New Delhi:
Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Gyanesh Kumar will be removed as Chief Election Commissioner and be jailed eventually, alleging that votes were stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections through the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and manipulation of voter lists.
“This theft of votes is no ordinary theft. This is the theft of every voice of India. This is called treason,” Gandhi said at the INDIA bloc rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, speaking in Hindi. “Without Gyanesh Kumar, neither would Narendra Modi have become Prime Minister nor Amit Shah the Home Minister,” he argued, calling the last Lok Sabha polls illegal.
“Votes were stolen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Votes were stolen through EVMs and by tampering with the voter list,” he said. “After the 2024 elections, 15 per cent of voters were removed. In 2024, there was a 3 per cent difference between us (INDIA bloc) and the (BJP-led) NDA. The 2024 election was illegal,” he argued. He said the data of the Election Commission “is saying this”. He cited what he had said about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-21 to claim, “What I say always turns out to be true; doesn’t it? And 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.”
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#WATCH | INDIA bloc mega rally | Delhi: Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, “Listen to me. What I say always turns out to be true, doesn’t it? 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.” “Without Gyanesh Kumar, neither Narendra Modi would have become Prime Minister nor Amit Shah would have become Home Minister.” “The farmer is not getting his rights. The youth are not getting employment. The labourer is not getting his rights, and the entire wealth has gone into the hands of two or three people. We do not want such an India, and we will not accept such an India.” (Source: ANI/Congress)
— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2026
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He also accused the BJP’s ideological parent body RSS of taking control of the country’s institutions, “from education to investigative agencies”.
“Because of this, farmers, labourers and youth do not get their rights,” Gandhi said.
Invoking Hindu mythology to describe the India he envisioned, Gandhi said, “Anyone can join ‘Shiv ji ki baraat’ (Lord Shiva’s wedding procession). No one is stopped. We want such an India.”
“We will not let democracy end. We will not let the Constitution be destroyed,” he said. “No matter how much money you have, you are not bigger than the Constitution. The Constitution is bigger than you,” he added, accusing the BJP of using money to dominate poll processes and institutions.
Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking before him, accused the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of coming to power through what he termed “vote theft”, and called for PM Narendra Modi’s ouster from office.
“Who votes for them? They choose themselves! The public does not elect them. The current central government, as well as the governments in Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are all governments of vote theft. We must remove these thieves,” Kharge said.
“Only if Modi goes will democracy survive,” he added.
INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, attended the rally organised against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Top Opposition leaders and supporters from across the country gathered at the venue for the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Delhi’ protest march, raising concerns over the SIR exercise and alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. The march began from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction and proceeded towards Ramlila Maidan.
The gathering followed a public “impeachment” programme against the CEC held in the national capital on October 31.
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Meanwhile, BJP leader and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the party’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, End Anarchy) padayatra in Faridabad on Sunday, where he accused Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of losing faith in democratic institutions. Former minister Pradhan was accompanied by Union Minister of State Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State Rajesh Nagar, Haryana Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam, several MLAs and party workers during the march, organised as part of the BJP’s nationwide campaign to counter what it called “anarchy being spread by the Congress”.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also alleged that the Congress and other parties are turning the SIR into a political controversy “for political convenience”.
Addressing a news conference in Goa, Shekhawat said the revision is a constitutional exercise aimed at strengthening the country’s democratic institutions. “Criticise the government’s policies, decisions and perspectives, but what is the basis for opposing the process of preparing clean electoral rolls merely because of political convenience?” he said.
Shekhawat said India has witnessed large-scale migration and urbanisation over the past two decades, resulting in people retaining their names on voter lists at their original places of residence while also registering at new locations. Citing estimates, he claimed that around 40 crore people had migrated from their native places over the last 20 years, while nearly 20 crore people had died during the same period.
Citing figures from various phases of the SIR, Shekhawat said, “Around 13 crore entries had been removed from electoral rolls, including 2.8 crore names of deceased persons, while 1.9 crore new names had been added”.
He said the revision involved deletion of ineligible entries and inclusion of eligible voters who were previously missing from the electoral rolls.
“Is the Congress opposing SIR or electoral accountability? The party should make its position clear,” he said.
Shekhawat asserted that the credibility of elections depended on the reliability of electoral rolls. “An election is important, and winning an election is also important, but the sanctity of the electoral process is equally important. The electoral roll is the foundation of the process,” the minister said.
(Inputs from PTI)
Source: www.ndtv.com
