ECI Demands Rahul Gandhi Back Allegations with Signed Oath

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has escalated its response to Rahul Gandhi's allegations of voter fraud, demanding that he substantiate his claims under oath.

 

Key Developments:

• The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), V. Anbu Kumar, formally requested that Rahul Gandhi submit a signed declaration under oath, complete with specifics—names, part numbers, and serial numbers—of voters he alleges were improperly added or removed from electoral rolls. The request was issued under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
• The declaration includes a warning: false evidence is punishable under Section 227 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, 2023, with penalties of up to 7 years in prison and a fine.
• Parallelly, the Election Commission of India has publicly rejected Rahul Gandhi’s "vote chori" (vote theft) narrative, labeling it false, absurd, and misleading, while compelling him to sign the declaration or apologize to the nation.

 

Political Repercussions

• Karnataka Law Minister H.K. Patil urged the ECI to treat Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as a suo motu complaint—urging the Commission to act proactively on the evidence presented, rather than seeking procedural formalities.

 

Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar filed a formal complaint with the CEO. Drawing from Congress’ internal AI-assisted analysis, he demanded a statewide audit of electoral rolls and public release of machine-readable data to verify claims of duplicate registrations and misuse of Form 6.