Rahul Gandhi’s EC critique sends wrong message: Minister Kiren Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday countered the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Election Commission and said that "propagating his words in society would send a wrong message".

Several other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders also condemned Rahul Gandhi's words.

BJP leader Narottam Mishra said, "Look, Rahul Gandhi is trying to save his credibility. He has lost 90 elections so far."

"Sometimes he (Rahul Gandhi) brings a hydrogen bomb, sometimes a sutli bomb, sometimes he raises questions about EVMs, and sometimes about vote theft. Now, in the press conference he held the day before yesterday, one thing has been established: if he is alleging vote theft, then the EVMs are correct, so he should apologise to the country for his allegations against EVMs. And secondly, Rahul Gandhi, votes are not being stolen; people have stopped voting for thieves."

Rahul Gandhi held a special press conference on September 24, during which he raised serious questions regarding the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission.

In the press conference, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission and the Central government. He said that while anti-incumbency works against the Congress and regional parties in the country, it seems to vanish when it comes to the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that there was large-scale rigging in the 2024 Lok Sabha and several Assembly elections. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that it was deeply unfortunate that Congress, which lost elections more than 100 times, has now, in frustration, seen its leader Rahul Gandhi resorting to anti-national conduct.

"Under the leadership of LoP Rahul Gandhi, Congress is now engaged in discrediting all the constitutional institutions of the country and, through a politics of continuous lies and deception, in tarnishing the country's image," CM Sai added.

"The joint press conference by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the other two Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi has proved that there is no disagreement within the Commission. Rather, all the claims made by Congress are not only hollow but also Rahul Gandhi's deliberate conspiracy to damage the country's reputation and weaken India's constitutional system. It is clear that the decision taken by the Election Commissioners was unanimous," he said. (IANS)

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