Rahul Gandhi accused the Election Commission, said- Constitution is in danger due to vote theft

Published 24 September 2026, 17:46 IST

Updated 2 minutes ago

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Following an investigative report published in the English newspaper The Indian Express on Wednesday, Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi held a special press conference on Thursday.

During this, Rahul Gandhi claimed that he has been raising the issue of 'vote theft' with evidence for three consecutive years and now two Election Commissioners have raised the issue of irregularities in the Election Commission.

Sudhanshu Trivedi came from BJP to reply to Rahul Gandhi's press conference. Describing Rahul Gandhi as having zero conscience from the political point of view, he said that "Anti-incumbency has always been strong against Congress, but ever since transparent elections are being held, they are facing difficulties in coming to power."

During this, the Congress leader mentioned those press conferences and programs from February 2025 till now when he had raised the issue of alleged 'vote theft'.

Raising questions, Rahul Gandhi said that Indira Gandhi lost the elections even at the peak of her popularity, but after the last several elections, it seems as if 'anti-incumbency' has ended.

He demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and said that democracy should not be allowed to be ruined. Rahul Gandhi also demanded from Gyanesh Kumar that he should become a government witness.

What was printed in the report of The Indian Express?

After the publication of the investigative report of the English newspaper, the opposition parties are raising questions on the functioning of the Modi government and the Central Election Commission.

This newspaper report claims that two election commissioners lodged objections '14 times in 10 months' regarding the steps taken by the Election Commission.

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According to the report, "These objections were lodged by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, ranging from keeping themselves in the dark to adding new voters and deleting names and raised questions over 'unauthorized, illegal' steps."

Opposition parties have already been raising questions on the role of the Election Commission.

What questions did Rahul Gandhi raise?

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that in states like Haryana, Chhattisgarh, UP, governments always changed after elections, but suddenly anti-incumbency in the elections ended.

He said, "This is because I come from a political family and I have spent more than 50 years in a political family. No political leader working in a democratic environment can make such a statement. Because in India there is a fundamental force called 'anti-incumbency' (anger against the current government), which very quickly starts opposing any government and it does not spare anyone."

"Indira Gandhi wins the Bangladesh war, is at the peak of her popularity, and then suddenly, within a year or two, faces tremendous anti-incumbency and immense pressure."

"This is exactly what happens with many leaders, one after the other. It happens with Congress leaders, it happens with regional parties, but for some reason, it never happens with Narendra Modi. It doesn't happen with Amit Shah, it doesn't happen with BJP."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "Where has India's biggest political force disappeared? We were looking for the answer and finally we got the answer. The vote is the foundation of our country. The vote is protected by the Election Commission. It gets its strength from the Constitution. If the votes are being destroyed then our Constitution will be destroyed."

"It will have no power, it will have no use. If the Constitution is destroyed, our laws will end and institutions will have no meaning. This is an attack on our vote. This is an attack on the freedom of expression of every citizen. We are constantly saying that there is some problem with the vote. The Election Commission protects it."

BJP raised questions on Rahul Gandhi's political understanding

Sudhanshu Trivedi in the press conference claimed that Rahul Gandhi has zero knowledge about politics.

He said, "Congress has not returned in Tamil Nadu since 1967, Congress has never returned in Bengal since 1977. There has never been a Congress in Bihar since 1990. In UP, the home state of the Gandhi family, they have not had a government since 1989. There has been no government in Odisha since 1999. Rahul Gandhi has no knowledge."

"After the arrival of Rahul ji and Sonia ji, they have to face anti-incumbency. The Gandhi family has been in power in the Congress party for 100 years. Today anti-incumbency has become so strong that they cannot win their seats without the crutch of allies."

"For 25 years, Congress has been winning Rae Bareli and Amethi seats with the support of Samajwadi Party, otherwise Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi do not have the capacity to win their family seats on their own. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had won the Wayanad seat with the support of Muslim League."

On the report of Indian Express, Sudhanshu Trivedi asked the question whether there is any statement of any Election Commissioner in this report?

He said, "Is there any statement of any Election Commissioner in that news report? If not, then on what basis is anyone saying that the Election Commissioner is saying this. I respect the freedom of newspapers and say that as per the rules the person concerned is asked. Is there a statement of his? No."

"Do you have any such report that the decision was not taken unanimously? Do you have any such press conference in which all three commissioners were not present? So what is the basis of this? I want to ask a direct question to the Congress party that in the report in which there is no statement of any election commissioner, there is no answer even off the record. So what is the basis of that?"

'Vote theft, law theft and then institution theft'

Rahul Gandhi demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying, "Please understand what is happening here. What you have done is an act against the Indian nation. This is not a small rigging in the election. This is an attack on the Constitution of India, it is an attack on the legal structure of our country, and you were the one who had to ensure that the votes were safe."

"We will not allow democracy to end in India. And those who are responsible for this will definitely be punished - if not today, then tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. They will definitely be punished. Gyanesh Kumar should think seriously about his current situation and become an approver."

Showing photographs of seven people including PM Modi, Amit Shah and Gautam Adani, Rahul Gandhi said that these are the people who are destroying democracy and there is 100 percent rigging in Indian elections.

"Two Election Commissioners have raised questions on Gyanesh Kumar. I have continuously raised these questions but now two Election Commissioners have raised questions. Gyanesh Kumar has been chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Now two Election Commissioners are saying that Gyanesh Kumar is responsible for the damage being done to our voting system. After vote theft, the law is stolen and then the institution is stolen. If the vote has been stolen and an MP sitting in the Parliament makes any law. So this is illegal."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also showed a timeline in which he told how many times he had raised the issue of irregularities and 'vote theft' in the Election Commission.

Rahul Gandhi also said that he had given a note of his disagreement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the time of Gyanesh Kumar's selection but he selected Gyanesh Kumar.