Jaipur, Aug 10: Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday criticised the Election Commission (EC) for asking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to submit an affidavit over his allegations of “vote theft”, terming the demand “absurd” and an attempt to “save face”.
In a post on X, Gehlot said, “Rahul Gandhi has placed all evidence before the public, exposing the ‘vote theft’ in the voter list by the Election Commission. The whole country trusts him. The EC’s demand for an affidavit seems completely absurd and an attempt to protect its own image.”
Quoting former chief election commissioner O P Rawat, Gehlot said that during the NDA government in 2018, if any senior leader made such allegations, the EC would initiate an inquiry and present facts before the public to maintain trust.
“Have leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, or even Narendra Modi, who once levelled charges against the EC, ever been asked to submit affidavits?” Gehlot asked.
He further said, “If an investigative journalist or media house had made the revelations that Rahul Gandhi did, would the EC have demanded an affidavit from them or conducted a fair probe?”
Calling “vote theft” an attack on the basic democratic principle of ‘one person, one vote’, Gehlot demanded that the EC ensure transparency and make the digital voter list public for independent audits. (PTI)
