Rahul Gandhi questions BJP’s lack of anti-incumbency (Img: X/RahulGandhi)
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a fresh attack on the Narendra Modi government and the Election Commission amid the controversy over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
At press conference, Gandhi questioned what he described as the absence of anti-incumbency against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. He also raised allegations over the conduct of elections in the country.
Rahul Gandhi played a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with the slogan “abki baar, 400 paar”.
Referring to Modi’s confidence during the campaign, Gandhi said that even amid anti-incumbency, the Prime Minister appeared certain of the BJP’s electoral prospects.
He then drew comparisons with authoritarian regimes of the world, saying, “anti-incumbency does not happen in Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Kim Jong Un's North Korea.”
The Congress leader also questioned why the anti-incumbency trend that had affected Congress and regional parties appeared not to have had the same impact on the BJP and Modi.
Gandhi also made a sweeping allegation about the electoral process, saying “all elections are being rigged.”
"Gyanesh Kumar was chosen by PM, Amit Shah and now two ECs are saying he's responsible for chaos, damage to our voting system," Rahul said.
His remarks came amid a controversy over reported differences within the Election Commission concerning the SIR exercise.
An Indian Express report had claimed that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the other two Election Commissioners had differed over several aspects of the electoral-roll revision exercise.
The Election Commission has rejected the allegations surrounding the SIR process, maintaining that decisions relating to the exercise were taken unanimously.
The poll panel has also said that written notes, observations and differing views among commissioners are part of its normal internal deliberations.
The controversy has nevertheless triggered a fresh political confrontation, with Opposition leaders questioning the functioning of the Election Commission and raising concerns over the electoral-roll revision process.
