EC acting in partisan manner, 'colluding' with BJP, alleges Cong's Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur, Aug 18 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Monday accused the Election Commission of India of acting in a partisan manner by "colluding" with the ruling BJP, as the opposition party raised its pitch against the poll roll revision in Bihar and the alleged "vote theft".

The Congress has claimed that "vote chori" was a "do-or-die" issue for it, and announced a roadmap to take its allegations to the people through various activities.

In a post on social media platform X, Gehlot said Rahul Gandhi, who holds a constitutional position, responsibly raised concerns with evidence about irregularities in voter lists. "Instead of accepting its mistake, the Election Commission demanded an affidavit from him." The former Rajasthan chief minister questioned why no such affidavit was sought from Anurag Thakur, who also recently alleged discrepancies in voter lists in certain constituencies. He accused the EC of following "double standards".

Gehlot said that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav made records of 18,000 complaints submitted to the EC with affidavits during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections with receipts.

"The EC did not respond to those either and is now claiming it received no such complaints," he said.

"This conduct of the Election Commission is biased and clearly directed against opposition parties. It reflects an apparent collusion between the EC and the BJP," he alleged.

Chief Election Commissioner Gynaesh Kumar on Sunday said the electoral roll revision was aimed at removing all shortcomings in voter lists, and it is a matter of grave concern that some parties are spreading misinformation about it and firing from the poll panel's shoulder.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Kumar rejected as baseless the allegations of double voting and "vote theft" and asserted that all stakeholders are working to make Special Intensive Revision (SIR) a success in a transparent manner. PTI SDA NSD NSD