As Rahul Gandhi rakes up 'vote chori' charge, EC to train officials to tackle 'misinformation'

As Congress-led Opposition is carrying out a massive 'vote theft' campaign against the Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the poll body is going to train its officials to tackle the 'recent surge of misinformation'. 

In a statement, the Election Commission said a one-day workshop will be organised for its media nodal officers and social media nodal officers under the chief election officers in states on Friday to "strengthen its communication ecosystem." Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will inaugurate the workshop.

"The workshop aims to emphasize that elections in India are held as per the Constitution and underline the importance of communicating the legal, factual and rule-based information in a timely and in coordinated manner," it said. 

The Commission added the officers will be trained to tackle the "recent surge in misinformation". "In light of the recent surge in misinformation that seeks to mislead the public with regard to electoral processes, the workshop also aims to strengthen the communication ecosystem of the offices of the CEOs in states/UTs in countering misleading information with fact-based responses," it added.

The Election Commission's campaign comes as it is facing charges of manipulating electoral rolls in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the ruling BJP won 2024 Lok Sabha elections by manipulating the electoral roll.

Gandhi also recently carried out a Vote Adhikar Yatra along with other Opposition leaders in poll-bound Bihar, targeting the poll body over the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in the state. The Opposition alleges that the Bihar SIR will lead to massive disfranchisement.