Says Congress will amend EC immunity law ‘retroactively’
Staff Reporter / New Delhi
At a massive Congress rally at Ramlila Maidan here, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that “vote chori” (vote theft) was ingrained in the BJP’s political DNA, asserting that his party stood with satya (truth) and would remove the “Narendra Modi–RSS government” from power.
Addressing the Congress’s Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod rally, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha launched a sharp attack on the ECI (Election Commission of Commission), naming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, and alleging that the poll body was working in tandem with the BJP.
“We will stand with truth and remove the Narendra Modi–RSS government from power. They have power, and they indulge in vote theft,” Gandhi said, claiming that while truth formed the core of the Congress’s ideology, “untruth and vote chori” defined the BJP and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).
Gandhi said the political battle in the country was between satya (truth) and asatya (falsehood), adding that truth may take time to prevail but would ultimately win. “We will defeat Modi and Amit Shah through truth and non-violence,” he said.
Senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, were present at the rally, which saw a large turnout of party workers protesting alleged electoral manipulation.
The former Congress president said the party had collected nearly six crore signatures from across the country against alleged vote theft and would submit them to the President of India.
In a post on X later, Gandhi reiterated his charge, saying, “Theft is in the BJP’s DNA,” listing what he described as money theft, land theft, institutional theft, rights theft, mandate theft and vote theft as tools used by the party to retain power.
Addressing a large gathering, Gandhi framed the current political moment as a fundamental struggle between truth and falsehood.
Drawing on religious and philosophical themes, he said India’s civilisational ethos — cutting across Hinduism and other faiths — places truth at the centre of public life, and accused the ruling establishment of abandoning this principle in favour of power.
“This fight in India today is between truth and untruth,” Gandhi said.
“The ideology of this country, the ideology of Hinduism and of every religion in the world, says that truth is paramount. But today, power is being made more important than truth,” he added.
Turning his criticism directly towards the ECI, Gandhi alleged that the constitutional body was functioning in tandem with the BJP government. He accused the poll panel of abandoning its role as an independent umpire and instead acting to benefit the ruling party.
“The Election Commission is working together with the BJP government,” he said, warning the commissioners not to forget their constitutional position. “You are the Election Commissioners of India. You are not the Election Commissioners of Narendra Modi.”