The Bharatiya Janata Party has written to the Election Commission seeking “stringent action” against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks that the ruling party “cannot win elections without EVMs”.
The BJP said Gandhi’s address at the INDIA bloc rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday contained inflammatory remarks aimed at sowing seeds of doubt and distrust in the minds of the people regarding the electoral process and the impartiality of the Election Commission.
“He (Gandhi) said 'this is a fixed match'. He also said that the government has its own people in the EC and the elections can't be won without EVM. He also said that the rights provided by the Indian Constitution are being snatched away," Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
The BJP asked the poll panel to take effective steps in enforcing and ensuring fair play and adherence to Constitutional provisions together with electoral and other statutes, including the Model Code of Conduct.
"Take a comprehensive view of the design and patterns of INC misleading campaign and propaganda and its leaders who not only create disaffection amongst the people but habitually and serially commit electoral offences by violating every single covenant of MCC and healthy democratic conventions," the party told the Commission.
The saffron party further demanded that Gandhi apologise to the nation, the Election Commission and the prime minister for making “false allegations” against them.
Addressing the INDIA bloc rally, Gandhi had alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to fix the elections in his favour.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to do match fixing in these elections. In this election, Modi’s 400-seat slogan is not possible without fixing EVMs, pressuring the media and social media," he had said.
Gandhi had further alleged that the Constitution will cease to exist if the BJP wins the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Puri said Gandhi’s remarks on Modi are "a low-level political discourse."
“He (Gandhi) posted on 'X' and 'Instagram' an image of PM Modi and alleged that the PM said that he would give his life to save rapists. Such low-level political discourse! We can understand his frustration. His INDI alliance is breaking. We told the Election Commission that mere notice is enough, stringent action needs to be taken," Puri said.