The Haryana chief electoral officer on Wednesday again asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to submit under oath the allegations he made about the state’s voter rolls having been manipulated.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi had alleged at a press conference that there was large-scale rigging in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections, claiming that about 25 lakh fake voters were added to the electoral rolls ahead of the polls held in October 2024.

Following his remarks, the Chief Electoral Officer’s office posted on social media that a “detailed response” to Gandhi’s statements would be issued soon.

A few hours later, it reposted a letter dated August 9, which had been addressed to the Congress leader after he made similar claims of voter roll manipulation earlier this year.

Gandhi had previously alleged irregularities in voter lists in the Aland and Mahadevapura Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, which the Election Commission dismissed as “incorrect” and “misleading”.

He and the Congress have also repeatedly alleged the Election Commission of large-scale rigging in other states, including the Maharashtra Assembly polls held in November, alleging what they called “industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of national institutions.” The Election Commission has rejected those allegations as well.

The letter reposted on Wednesday said: “It is understood that during a press conference…you had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the electoral rolls.”

“You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed declaration/oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the names of such electors so that necessary proceedings can be initiated,” it added.

Under this rule, a registration officer has the power to require anyone making or supporting a claim or objection regarding the voter list to submit their evidence on oath.

The Election Commission’s letter also said that electoral rolls are prepared in a transparent manner and that the conduct or outcome of elections can be challenged only by filing an election petition before the High Court.

Gandhi’s allegations

At a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday, Gandhi claimed that a Brazilian woman had voted 22 times in 10 polling booths during the Haryana Assembly elections.

The Congress leader displayed a photograph of a woman, whom he claimed was a Brazilian model, alleging that her image was used in voter rolls of several constituencies.

Gandhi claimed this was part of a wider conspiracy to “turn a Congress landslide victory into a loss”.

He said that of the 25.4 lakh fake entries the Congress had identified in Haryana’s voter list, 5.2 lakh were duplicate voters, 93,174 had invalid addresses and 19.2 lakh were bulk voters.

Gandhi said that details of the misuse of Form 6 (additions) and Form 7 (deletions) were not available with the Congress because the Election Commission had restricted access to the data after the party alleged voter manipulation in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Karnataka.

He also said that one voter’s name and photograph appeared 223 times in two polling booths in Haryana, alleging that there were “thousands and thousands of such examples” in the state.

Also read: 5 key takeaways from Rahul Gandhi’s Haryana polls rigging allegations

Gandhi also accused the Election Commission of helping the Bharatiya Janata Party by not removing the duplicate voters and covering up evidence by “destroying CCTV footage”.

The Congress leader claimed that several BJP members were registered as voters in more than one state.

Gandhi also alleged that the system of “vote theft” had been “industrialised”, alleging that similar manipulation would take place in the Bihar Assembly elections. The first phase of polling in Bihar is being held on Thursday, and the second phase is slated for November 11. The results will be announced on November 14.

Allegations a ‘well-planned conspiracy’, says BJP

BJP leader Kiren Rijiju said that Gandhi’s allegations about Haryana when the elections are taking place in Bihar showed that the “issue is being fabricated to divert attention” as the Opposition has “no issue left in Bihar”.

The BJP leader said that Gandhi was targeting the country’s system and the credibility of institutions.

“Questioning the Election Commission, our democratic system, and the credibility of the institutions means you’re targeting the country, our system,” he said. “This is a well-planned conspiracy.”

Rijiju said that Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s comment that the BJP will win the state polls because it has a “vyavastha”, or arrangement, in place, meant that the party has the organisational structure and discipline to win elections.

The Union minister was referring to a video played by Gandhi during the press conference showing Saini making the assertion before the Assembly election result.

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