The Congress held its Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, passing a slew of resolutions against the backdrop of the controversy engulfing the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The resolutions demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and restoration of names that have been removed from the rolls.
Several key leaders including Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, senior leader Sonia Gandhi, among others participated in the CWC.
The CWC said it met to deliberate on what it described as a "grave danger to our democracy" posed by reports alleging the capture of the electoral process by the RSS-BJP with the alleged support of the ECI under the current CEC.
The party said the developments vindicated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's warnings about what it termed "Vote Chori", and cited his concerns over selective enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the integrity of EVMs, additions and deletions from electoral rolls, the changed process for appointing the CEC and the grant of lifelong immunity to the CEC.
The CWC also raised concerns over reports that the ECI had been reduced to a "one-man show", alleging that the CEC was taking decisions without due consultation with the other Election Commissioners.
The political row intensified following an investigative report by The Indian Express, which said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions and procedures linked to the SIR exercise.
The CWC also expressed concern over what it described as the constitutional validity of SIR, claiming that the exercise had "already wiped out 13 crore 30 lakh Indians from the electoral rolls".
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also took a swipe at the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling him a "puppet" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking at the CWC meeting held in New Delhi today, Kharge accused the Modi government of systematically and conspiratorially hollowing out the democratic foundations over the past 12 years.
"The Modi government has systematically and conspiratorially hollowed out the strong democratic foundation that our forefathers built through their sacrifices and dedication over the last 12 years," he said.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that he has "no moral right to continue" in office following alleged voter list manipulations and compromises in the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
"It's done by the clear directions of his masters; in this country, two election commissioners have written to the Cabinet Secretary also, so it's in the knowledge of the Prime Minister also. This is the moral responsibility of the PM to intervene. CWC's opinion is that PM Modi has no moral right to continue as the Prime Minister," he said.
Several Congress leaders also asserted their demand amid the Opposition’s continued protest against the CEC and the BJP.
Remarks of Rahul Gandhi
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi told the Congress Working Committee on Tuesday that EVM and voters' list "match-fixing" of polls was underway in the country and asserted that his party should not budge from the path of "virodh" (opposing) as well as "pratirodh" (resistance) against it from streets to Parliament, sources said.
Speaking during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Gandhi also said that revelations about the Election Commission were now coming out in the open because of the Congress.
During the two-and-a-half hour meeting, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha pointed out that the Congress had been raising the "vote chori" issue strongly with facts and talked about irregularities in polls in Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra but many were sceptical of it, sources said.
The issue is now being discussed in the media and in editorials and the Congress stand has been vindicated, he was quoted as saying.
So, the atmosphere has indeed changed over these two years, largely because of presentations based on facts by the Congress, Gandhi said.
Gandhi had stated that there are two types of "match-fixing" -- one involving EVMs and the other is deliberate tampering with the voter lists, according to sources.
"So, there are two forms of match-fixing: EVM match-fixing and voter list match-fixing, both are happening," Gandhi was quoted as saying.
Gandhi also said that there is no doubt that the 2024 election was "completely fixed and rigged".
He also said several legislations, specifically the law passed in December 2023 giving immunity to the CEC and the two Election Commissioners, were questionable and wrong, according to sources.
(With inputs from ANI & PTI)
