New Delhi, Oct 26 Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Modi government of resorting to every possible trick to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar even after “countless revelations of vote theft”.
“When information about the software used in SIR was sought through RTI, the Election Commission refused to respond, citing ‘Trade Secrets’,” the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha claimed in a post on X, reiterating the demand for Kumar’s resignation.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also alleged irregularities in electoral rolls in different states, including Uttar Pradesh, and highlighted reports on how the EC is probing them.
“Every passing day brings forth new evidence of the mass, centralised manipulation orchestrated by CEC Gyanesh Kumar at the behest of the PM and HM. He must resign immediately and the disastrous SIR process must be stopped,” Ramesh said.
Kharge also urged people to join the Dilli Chalo march on November 1 against “vote chori” at Ramlila Maidan, saying it is a struggle to save democracy and not just votes.
In Uttar Pradesh, he claimed, details of 16.18 lakh Form-6 applications have not been made public.
In Pilibhit, “irregularities were detected in the records of 10,470 voters. And now they have been forced to order an investigation of Forms 6, 7, and 8 across the entire state”, Kharge said.
“The three key demands of the INDIA alliance against the collusion between BJP and the Election Commission are clear: CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign, and the 2023 law providing him protection must be repealed.
“SIR must be immediately halted. The names of voters illegally removed must be restored. All elections must be conducted using paper ballots,” he said.
“This is not just a fight to save votes; it is people’s struggle to save the Constitution and democracy,” Kharge added.
He began his lengthy post by saying, “Even after countless revelations of vote theft, the Modi government is resorting to every possible trick to protect Gyanesh Kumar!”
In another post on X, Kharge appealed to the people to participate in large numbers in the November 1 “Save the Vote, Save the Country” rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.
“It is festival season, but at this time you are struggling with back-breaking inflation. Yet the government has absolutely no concern about this, because it only knows how to steal votes. Vote theft has happened on a massive scale and is still happening.
“The constitutional right to vote of millions of Indians is in danger. For this, CEC Gyanesh Kumar is solely responsible. He has done all this on the instructions of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister,” Kharge alleged.
“We appeal to you to participate enthusiastically in this rally to save the Constitution and democracy, and make this campaign a success. Long live the Constitution, Jai Hind,” he said.
Ramesh, in his post on X, claimed fresh revelations of “malpractice and illegalities” in the electoral rolls were reported today and said, “BJP’s desperate attempts at distraction cannot hide the crisis in the Election Commission and the Modi Government.”
He claimed the EC has ordered scrutiny of the electoral rolls of all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh after “irregularities” were exposed by the Congress and Samajwadi Party.
In Azamgarh, he claimed, the same individual’s name appeared 13 times on the roll – “just one among tens of thousands of irregularities found in just 2 constituencies”. He said eight junior officials are being blamed for this while the real culprits go unpunished.
“Despite the Congress’ protests led by the chief minister, misuse of Form 7 for mass deletions continues in Karnataka. Now, 61,000 Form 7 applications for deletion have been filed in the name of election officials with ‘no reason’ given.
“This is despite the EC’s damage control letter to state Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) on 10 Oct, 2026 supposedly to curb Form 7 misuse,” Ramesh said in his post.
The Congress had on Sunday accused the Election Commission of hiding information about the controversial ECINET software and claimed that the poll body is repeatedly refusing to provide this because it will reveal the reality of the “massive, centralised manipulation” that has taken place in the “disastrous” SIR.
(PTI News)
