Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has refused to sign an affidavit requested by the Election Commission over alleged “vote theft,” saying the data in question belongs to the commission, not him. Speaking to the media, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, “Why should I sign an affidavit? It is their data, not mine. They should take it from their own website. This is just a distraction. And no one should think this happened only in Bengaluru — it occurred in many constituencies across the country. The Election Commission is trying to hide the truth, but one day everything will come out.”
Gandhi criticised the denial of permission for opposition MPs to meet the Election Commission. “Look at the state of India’s democracy. Three hundred MPs wanted to meet the EC to present a document, but they were not allowed. They are scared. If the truth comes out, what will they do? This fight is no longer political — it is about the Constitution and one person, one vote. We have shown in Karnataka that it was multiple men, multiple votes. The entire opposition is fighting this, and it will be hard for the EC to keep hiding.”
Congress general secretary and MP K.C. Venugopal accused the police and government of blocking their protest march. “The police and government are not letting us march even for 30 seconds. They want to stop us here. What kind of democracy is this? MPs cannot freely go to the Election Commission. Now they say only 30 people can go, but at least let those 30 reach the EC office.”
After being detained, Congress MP Randeep Surjewala declared that imprisonment would not silence the opposition. “The whole country is saying, ‘Touch our vote if you dare.’ The people have rejected the partnership between the Modi government and the Election Commission.”
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that democracy is being attacked and killed right outside Parliament, as opposition MPs were stopped from marching to the EC headquarters. He added, “The Election Commission must remain the Election Commission, not turn into a ‘Churaav Aayog’ (theft commission).”
The protest was organised against alleged vote theft and the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list in Bihar. Opposition MPs began their march from the Parliament complex but were stopped by police on Sansad Marg and later detained.
