New Delhi [India], August 2 (ANI): BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday targeted Rahul Gandhi over his allegations relating to the Election Commission, saying that they are waiting for the Congress leader to explode the “atom bomb” he spoke of in relation to the poll panel and that the opposition leader is in the habit of making dramatic remarks.
“We are also waiting. Today Rajnathji has said he should explode early, we are also saying let him explode (his atom bomb). It has no power,” Prasad, a former Union Minister, told ANI.
“He (Rahul Gandhi) said that when I speak, Modiji will be shaken. Parliament will be shaken. He keeps saying this. During the debate on Operation Sindoor, he punched the bench in the House so hard that the Speaker had to tell him that this is the property of the House,” Prasad added.
BJP leaders have slammed Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of “voter theft” against the Election Commission.
Speaking in Patna, Rajnath Singh accused Gandhi and other opposition figures of misleading the public with baseless allegations targeting the Election Commission.
Addressing an event in Patna, Singh responded to Gandhi’s recent comments on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, terming them as “sensational, baseless and irresponsible.”
The Union Minister mocked Gandhi’s claim of possessing “atom bomb” of proof regarding vote rigging. “If he has such a bomb, he should test it and show the evidence,” Singh said, adding that Gandhi’s remarks lacked substance.
He recalled previous dramatic statements made by Gandhi, such as triggering an “earthquake,” which Singh said resulted in nothing substantial.
Defending the Election Commission, Singh described it as a “responsible and constitutional institution” and criticised opposition leaders for “misleading statements”.
He emphasised that it is unbecoming for a Leader of the Opposition to make such comments about a body tasked with upholding democracy.
He accused the Opposition of engaging in “dirty politics” instead of helping inform the electorate.
Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, said yesterday that the poll panel was not helpful in probing their suspicions and “the things we found are an ‘atom bomb’ and when this atom bomb explodes, you won’t see the Election Commission in the country”.
Gandhi accused the Election Commission of being complicit in “vote theft” to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and claimed his party has “open-and-shut proof” of the alleged electoral malpractice.
“Votes are being stolen. We have open-and-shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in this vote theft. And I’m not saying this lightly, I’m speaking with 100% proof. And when we release it (proof), the entire country will come to know that the Election Commission is enabling vote theft. And who are they doing it for? They’re doing it for the BJP,” he alleged.
“We had suspicion of voter theft, and we got into its granularity. Since the Election Commission was not helpful in the investigation, we did our own. It took six months, and the things we found are an ‘atom bomb’ and when this atom bomb explodes, you won’t see the Election Commission in the country,” he added.
Gandhi warned that whoever ECI officials were involved in the alleged malpractice will face action.
“Most importantly, whoever in the Elections Commission is involved in this exercise, right from top to bottom, we will not spare you. You are working against India and this no less than treason. Wherever you are, even if you are retired, we will find you,” he said.
Opposition parties have been protesting against Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Election Commission has rejected the opposition claims of vote theft ahead of the Bihar elections, calling them baseless and irresponsible.
The EC said its officials should continue working fairly and transparently, without being affected by daily threats or false statements.
“Election Commission ignores such baseless allegations being made on a daily basis and despite threats being given daily, asks all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements while working impartially and transparently,” it said.
It said Gandhi is threatening EC and its staff and termed it deplorable.
The poll panel said Rahul Gandhi has not met the poll panel, despite a mail to him.
“ECI sends a mail to him on 12 June 2025. He does not come.; ECI sends him a letter on 12 June 2025, he does not respond; He has never sent any letter to ECI on any issue, whatsoever; It is very strange that he is making wild allegations and has now even started threatening EC and its staff. Deplorable. ECI ignores all such irresponsible statements and asks all its staff to continue working impartially and transparently.”
Rahul Gandhi repeated his allegations relating to the poll body on Saturday at the AICC Annual Legal Conclave and claimed that election system in India was “already dead” and alleged that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were “rigged”.
Gandhi said that he suspected over 80 Lok Sabha seats were rigged in the 2024 general elections. “The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. The Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If 15 seats were rigged, we suspect that the number is over 70 to 80, he would not have been the Prime Minister of India. We are going to prove to you in the coming few days how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged and was rigged,” Gandhi said.
Referring to data analysed by the party pertaining to Lok Sabha polls, he claimed nearly 1.5 lakh voters out of 6.5 lakh who voted were “fake”.
“It makes clear that the institution that defends the constitution has been obliterated and taken over. We have such proof that will show the whole country that the institution of the Election Commission does not exist. It has disappeared. It has taken us 6 months of non-stop work to find this proof. You will see with zero doubt how a Lok Sabha election is stolen. 6.5 lakh voters vote, and 1.5 lakh of those voters are fake,” Gandhi alleged.
Gandhi said he had suspicion about “something being wrong” since 2014. Questioning the BJP’s sweeping victories in the assembly elections of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi noted that they began investigating electoral malpractices following their defeat in Maharashtra, where one crore new voters appeared within months ahead of the assembly elections.
“I’ve been speaking recently about the election system. I had always suspected something was wrong, starting from 2014. I had a suspicion in the Gujarat Assembly elections already. This ability to win sweeping victories. The Congress Party didn’t get a single seat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, or Gujarat, which surprised me. Whenever we spoke, people said, ‘Where’s the proof?’ Then, something happened in Maharashtra,” Gandhi said.
“In the Lok Sabha, we won the election. And then four months later, we didn’t just lose, we were obliterated. Three formidable parties suddenly just evaporated. We started to look seriously for electoral malpractice. We found that in Maharashtra, one crore new voters appeared between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. The bulk of those votes go to the BJP… Now, I say with absolutely no doubt that we have proof,” the Congress leader added. (ANI)
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