New Delhi: Amid the escalating tension between the Election Commission and the Opposition parties over vote theft allegations, the INDIA bloc is considering
bringing in an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, sources said. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Opposition charge, has accused the Election Commission of stealing elections in collusion with the BJP. He also asserted that the INDIA bloc will not let their "latest conspiracy to steal" Bihar polls through SIR succeed. Gandhi's charges were challenged by Gyanesh Kumar in an 85-minute press conference with several quotable quotes yesterday. "EC is standing like a rock with voters. Political parties firing from EC's shoulders. No matter which political party someone belongs to, the Election Commission will not shy away from its constitutional duty," he said. Kumar on Sunday also asked Gandhi to either file a sworn affidavit within seven days or withdraw his claims. Kumar held the press conference - his first since taking charge six months ago - after Rahul Gandhi, who is on a 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', accused the Election Commission of stealing elections in collusion with the BJP. With barely three months left for the Bihar Assembly polls, the Opposition has stepped up the attack on the poll body. Gandhi and his Mahagathbandhan allies in the state are currently on a 1,300-km yatra to send a message that the Opposition is united in the state. In his remarks at the yatra launch event, he alleged that assembly and Lok Sabha polls were being "stolen" across the country and there was a "conspiracy" in Bihar to do the same through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The Congress leader said while he was asked to submit an affidavit after his press conference exposing "vote chori", no such demand was made from BJP leaders who made claims in their presser. "In the whole country, assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen and their latest conspiracy is to delete and add voters through SIR to steal the elections in Bihar," Gandhi charged. "We have come here to tell you that we will not let them steal the election in Bihar. People of Bihar will not let them steal elections. The poor only have the power of vote and we will not let them steal polls," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
He said the whole country now knows what the EC is doing and the Congress showed how it is carrying out this "theft".
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"Wherever this theft is happening, be it Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, we will catch their theft and put it before the people," Gandhi said.
EC Acting Like "Agent" of Modi Government
In his address at the yatra launch event, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge charged the EC with acting like an "agent" of the "dangerous" Modi government at the Centre.
Kharge alleged that the Modi government poses a "threat" to the Constitution and the people's right to vote.
He alleged that with a view to ensuring that the poll body remained pliant, the "Modi government decided to have a Union minister in the selection committee for the Election Commission, ignoring the Supreme Court's advice that the Chief Justice of India be included".
As the crowd was restless to listen to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and there was a lot of disturbance, an agitated Kharge repeatedly urged the crowd to listen to his remarks patiently or leave.
