Coming out strongly against senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of ‘vote fraud’, the Election Commission of India has said that using “improper words” such as “vote chori” amounts to insulting the Constitution.
Addressing a press meet in New Delhi this afternoon, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that the Election Commission was being used as a launchpad to target India’s voters for political motives. Mr Kumar said the poll body stands firmly with the voters.
Flanked by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the Chief Election Commissioner said that for the poll body, there is no difference between the ruling party and the Opposition.
“Every party is the same for us,” he said, adding that the Election Commission will not step back from its constitutional responsibility.
The Election Commission’s response came on a day Mr Gandhi launched the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra‘ in Bihar to target the poll body over the raging issue of Special Intensive Revision in the poll-bound state.
The Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, the Chief Election Commissioner said, was launched to address political parties’ demands for corrections in the database.
Mr Kumar said there is a month-long window to make objections to the draft voter list and appealed to political parties to flag any errors. “The doors of the Election Commission are always open for everyone equally,” he said.
All voters, political parties and booth-level officers are working transparently on the ground. “It is a matter of concern that the voice of these representatives of political parties is either not reaching their parties’ leadership, or ground realities are being ignored in an attempt to spread misinformation,” he said.