New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday backed Rahul Gandhi's allegations on "vote fraud" in Karnataka and said it was time to save democracy and the Constitution as well as the country.
He also claimed that earlier, the Election Commission used to be lauded worldwide and countries would seek training in conducting impartial polls, but now it "acts like a representative of the ruling party" when asked questions on the conduct of elections.
In a post on X, he also said, "When a political party raised questions with the Election Commission, it would respond or provide clarification within the bounds of constitutional dignity."
"Today, when someone questions the ECI, instead of responding, it acts like a representative of the ruling party, levelling counter-allegations and making baseless statements without considering the demands of opposition parties," Kharge said in his X post in Hindi.
He said that today, Rahul Gandhi, after a thorough investigation, cited examples from Karnataka's Mahadevapura Assembly segment, explaining how the Election Commission "allowed gross rigging in a single election, shredding its constitutional duties to pieces" with 1,00,250 votes "stolen".
"This 'Vote Chori' is happening strategically across many seats in the country. The Congress party will raise public awareness about this. Tomorrow, we will begin from Freedom Park in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The time has come to save democracy and the Constitution, to save the country," Kharge also said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said in a post that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has presented "this truth to the nation with solid evidence, showing how elections are being rigged to destroy democracy".
Party general secretary Randeep Surjewala said that as Rahul Gandhi "revealed today, the ECI is colluding with the BJP and destroying democracy and the Constitution".
Surjewala demanded that the ECI provide the voters' list electronically in a readable form, and said he had filed the case in the Delhi High Court, directing the supply of Maharashtra and Haryana lists. "It hasn't been done to date."
"Let ECI save and supply videography of polling and counting. Destroying them is the destruction of evidence. ECI no longer functions as a neutral referee. It works like the BJP’s rigging machinery, fixing elections instead of safeguarding them," he alleged.
Surjewala claimed that the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar proves that the poll panel is the "Eraser Commission of India, a tool to erase voters, suppress voices, and destroy the foundation of free and fair elections."
"This is not democracy. This is deletion by design... Karnataka will be the launchpad for our resistance. We will expose this fraud, street by street and booth by booth. The time for silence is over. The time to resist is now," he asserted.
In a post on X, P Chidambaram said, "Rahul Gandhi has presented a formidable body of evidence to prove that the 2024 election in one assembly constituency within one parliamentary constituency in Karnataka was rigged and stolen."
"The ECI cannot brush aside or dismiss the enormous data that has been gathered and analysed through painstaking work. There can be no glib explanations. ECI has much to answer," he added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in polls through collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission, as he cited an analysis in a constituency in Karnataka and said it was "a crime against the Constitution".
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also said that the judiciary needs to get involved in this because "the democracy that we love so much, does not exist anymore".