In a sharp rebuke to Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said he must either file an affidavit substantiating his allegations against the Election Commission or apologise before the country, warning that failure to provide a declaration under oath within seven days would render his claims “baseless and invalid.”
The CEC questioned whether the Commission could act on the basis of complaints without proper legal backing.
“Should EC issue notice to 1.5 lakh voters without declaration under oath by the complainant?” he asked.
Responding to allegations that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar was being carried out in undue haste, Kumar pointed to the statutory mandate of the Election Commission under the Representation of the People Act.
“Some people are misleading that why the SIR exercise is being carried out in such a hurry? Should the voter list be rectified before or after the elections? The Election Commission is not saying this; the Representation of the People Act says that you have to rectify the voter list before every election. This is the legal responsibility of the Election Commission,” he said.
Kumar further defended the Commission’s timeline, stating that the work had begun well in advance.
“Then the question arose whether the Election Committee would be able to reach more than seven crore voters of Bihar? The truth is that the work started on 24th June. The entire process was completed by about the 20th of July...”
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“Should EC issue notice to 1.5 lakh voters without declaration under oath by the complainant?” he asked.
Responding to allegations that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar was being carried out in undue haste, Kumar pointed to the statutory mandate of the Election Commission under the Representation of the People Act.
“Some people are misleading that why the SIR exercise is being carried out in such a hurry? Should the voter list be rectified before or after the elections? The Election Commission is not saying this; the Representation of the People Act says that you have to rectify the voter list before every election. This is the legal responsibility of the Election Commission,” he said.
Kumar further defended the Commission’s timeline, stating that the work had begun well in advance.
“Then the question arose whether the Election Committee would be able to reach more than seven crore voters of Bihar? The truth is that the work started on 24th June. The entire process was completed by about the 20th of July...”
