Opposition to bring impeachment notice against poll panel chief amid ‘vote fraud’ row

THe oppositeness bharat axis is provision to displace an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, escalating its confrontation with the EC days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the poll body of large-scale voter fraud.The move comes after Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana, accusing the Commission of manipulating voter data to favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On August 7, he claimed that 1,00,250 “stolen” votes in Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore Central enabled the BJP’s Lok Sabha victory, accusing the ECI of “colluding” with the ruling party.Under Article 324(5) of the Constitution, the CEC can only be removed in the same manner as a Supreme Court judge, requiring a motion of impeachment by Parliament.EC hits back at Rahul GandhiResponding to the charges, CEC Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday dismissed Gandhi’s claims as “baseless” and “an insult to the Constitution.” At a press conference in Delhi, he demanded that Gandhi either submit a signed affidavit substantiating his charges or apologise to the nation.“An affidavit will have to be given or an apology should be made to the country. Teesra koi vikalp nahi (There is no third option). If the affidavit is not received within seven days, it means that all these allegations are baseless,” Kumar said.Gandhi, however, hit back, alleging selective targeting. “The Election Commission asks for an affidavit from me. But when Anurag Thakur (BJP MP) says the same thing that I am saying, it does not ask for an affidavit from him,” he said.Opposition accuses poll panel of biasThe Opposition was quick to rally behind Gandhi. Congress leader Pawan Khera said the CEC’s remarks sounded like those of a BJP functionary rather than an independent constitutional authority.“It seemed like BJP was speaking today. Did he give any response about the one lakh voters we exposed in Mahadevapura?” Khera asked.RJD leader Manoj Jha accused the Commission of ducking “burning questions” while JMM MP Mahua Maji asked the poll body to clarify the authenticity of documents presented by Gandhi in his press conference.What are the allegations?At his August 7 briefing, Rahul Gandhi had presented what he claimed was Congress’ research on Mahadevapura voters - pointing to duplicate names, invalid addresses and instances of bulk registrations, including “80 voters at one address.” He also alleged that the Commission was “destroying evidence” by restricting CCTV and webcasting footage of polling booths to just 45 days.The CEC, however, said sharing such footage would violate voter privacy. “Should the Election Commission share CCTV videos of any voter including their mothers, daughters-in-law, daughters?” Kumar asked, insisting that only those listed on rolls had voted.Kumar also rejected charges of inflated voter lists in Maharashtra, saying no objections were raised during the draft roll stage and no proof had been submitted even eight months after the election.“If you keep saying anything 10 times, 20 times, it does not become true. The sun rises only in the east. It does not rise in the west just because someone says so,” Kumar remarked, stressing that the ECI “fearlessly stands with all voters without discrimination.”The CEC further said that preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar were being carried out transparently, with the “credibility of seven crore voters” standing behind the process.