Neither Election Commission nor any voter is afraid of such false allegations: CEC Gyanesh Kumar on ‘vote theft’ claims

NEW DELHI: Refuting the opposition’s claims of “vote theft” through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said neither the ECI nor the voters are “afraid” of such “false” allegations.

It was the first press conference conducted by the constitutional body following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. Opposition leaders had raised allegations of “vote theft” during the SIR exercise in Bihar and the 2024 Lok Sabha pollsGyanesh Kumar mentioned that many voters had complained of double voting in the past few days, but didn’t give any proof when asked for it.

“Some voters alleged double voting. When asked for proof, no answer was given. Neither the Election Commission nor any voter is afraid of such false allegations,” CEC Kumar told reporters.

CEC affirmed that the Election Commission “stood like a rock” with every section of society without any discrimination.

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#WATCH | Delhi: On Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against ECI, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar says, “…An affidavit will have to be given or an apology will have to be made to the country. There is no third option. If the affidavit is not received within 7 days, it means… pic.twitter.com/AJVbxEdPja

— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2025

“When politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by keeping a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission, today the Election Commission wants to make it clear to everyone that it fearlessly stood like a rock with all the voters of all sections and all religions including the poor, rich, elderly, women, youth without any discrimination,” CEC said.

He stated that the ECI doesn’t belong to any party and it will not step back from its “constitutional duty”. CEC stated that there is no discrimination in the eyes of the ECI and every political party is equal.

“For the Election Commission, there is neither any opposition nor any party. All are equal. No matter who belongs to any political party, the Election Commission will not step back from its constitutional duty,” CEC Kumar told reporters on Sunday.

Kumar said that every 18-year-old or older must vote.

“As per the Constitution of India, every citizen of India who has attained the age of 18 years must become a voter and must also vote. You all know that, as per the law, every political party is born through registration with the Election Commission. Then how can the Election Commission discriminate among the same political parties?,” Gyanesh Kumar said.

Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi in a press conference on August 1 had levelled serious allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of direct involvement in large-scale voter fraud with the Congress having “open-and-shut proof” of the alleged theft.

Talking to reporters on the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the Congress leader alleged that the motive behind the voter fraud was to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rahul Gandhi said, “Votes are being stolen. We have open-and-shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in this vote theft. And I’m not saying this lightly, I’m speaking with 100% proof. And when we release it (proof), the entire country will come to know that the Election Commission is enabling vote theft. And who are they doing it for? They’re doing it for the BJP.

The Lok Sabha LoP later on August 7 held a press conference in which he presented Congress’ research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka, Gandhi alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes.

He launched a scathing attack on the BJP and the Election Commission and said that “collusion” happened between the poll body and the BJP, which resulted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi securing his third term.

He also slammed the Election Commission of India (ECI) and alleged that the elections are “choreographed”.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, the Bharatiya Janata Party fell shy of securing a majority on its own, winning 240 seats out of 543. However, the National Democratic Alliance, led by PM Narendra Modi, was able to form the government by winning a total of 293 seats and crossing the majority mark. (ANI)