NEW DELHI: The Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday lambasted the Election Commission of India (ECI) while accusing it of “vote theft” in poll-bound Bihar and getting cases lodged against those who “expose” the poll body.
Rahul also questioned the poll body, claiming that it has become BJP’s “election chori branch” (election theft branch).
Taking to X, the Congress leader said, “Election Commission in Bihar caught red handed stealing votes in the name of ‘SIR’. Work is just theft, name is ‘SIR’ – FIR will be lodged against the one who exposes it!Is EC still ‘Election Commission’ or has it completely become BJP’s ‘Election Chori’ branch?.”
His remarks came after award-winning journalist Ajith Anjum was booked on charges of interfering in Bihar’s electoral roll revision and provoking communal discord.
Anjum was booked under Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and The Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, after he visited a poll booth in Balia on July 12. Anjum, who runs a YouTube channel, claims to have found several enumeration forms at the booth – some without photos, and others partially filled or without signatures.