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PTC Web Desk:  The Congress on Monday launched a sharp counterattack against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, asserting that before seeking an affidavit from Rahul Gandhi, the Election Commission (EC) should itself submit one in the Supreme Court declaring that its voter list is clean. Only then, the party said, it would submit its affidavit proving irregularities in the rolls.

The opposition’s reaction came a day after the CEC gave Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a seven-day ultimatum to either submit a signed affidavit backing his allegations of “vote chori” (vote theft) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections or issue a public apology.

Addressing a press conference during the ongoing Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera and party leader Kanhaiya Kumar accused the poll body of acting like a “BJP spokesperson.”

Khera mocked the CEC’s press briefing, saying, “Earlier, we thought only BJP leaders like Anurag Thakur, Sambit Patra, or unnamed sources made such comments. Now we finally saw the Chief Election Commissioner making them.” He alleged that the CEC’s threats to seek an affidavit exposed the EC’s lack of confidence in its own data.

Kanhaiya Kumar went a step further, alleging that the BJP is trying to “steal votes and rewrite the Constitution.” He linked the ruling party’s 2024 campaign slogan ‘Ab ki baar 400 paar’ to what he termed as a conspiracy to alter the constitutional framework. He cited examples from Haryana and Maharashtra, where pre-poll surveys suggested a Congress victory but results went the other way.

According to him, the EC earlier denied any flaws in electoral rolls but later admitted that it was conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to address discrepancies. “If EC itself accepts issues in voter rolls, it means it misled the public earlier,” he claimed.

The Congress also flagged several irregularities in the voter lists, alleging that booth-level officers (BLOs) were failing to conduct proper door-to-door verification. The party said that in many cases, deceased individuals remained on the rolls while genuine voters were deleted. “We are ready to give an affidavit, but first the EC must file one in the Supreme Court stating its voter lists are error-free,” Kanhaiya Kumar insisted.

He further alleged that in Bihar, during the ongoing voter list revision, genuine citizens were being harassed, with BLOs refusing Aadhaar cards as proof of identity. Even minor spelling mismatches in names were creating hurdles for voters, he said, citing his own father’s documents as an example.

Highlighting inconsistencies, Kumar asked the EC to clarify how many names were added after claiming that 65 lakh voters were removed. “If a government is formed through chori (theft), it cannot work with honesty. The SIR process is a straightforward way of vote theft,” he alleged.

Khera also pointed out major anomalies in Maharashtra, claiming that in Ramtek and Devlali assembly constituencies nearly 40% of voters were suddenly marked dead or permanently migrated, while in Nashik West and Hingna nearly 45% of new voters were inexplicably added. He posted on X, “Next, they will announce that 2 2 = 420.”

On Sunday, CEC Gyanesh Kumar, flanked by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, warned Rahul Gandhi to either file an affidavit supporting his allegations or apologise within seven days. “There is no third option. If no affidavit is submitted, all allegations will be deemed baseless,” Kumar declared.

Meanwhile, the Congress and its allies continue to demand that the EC provide machine-readable digital copies of voter lists in Maharashtra, citing widespread irregularities in the 2024 elections.