‘Blatant Partisanship’: Congress Slams ECI’s Affidavit-or-Apology Ultimatum to Rahul Gandhi
The Congress on Sunday hit back at the Election Commission of India, accusing the poll body of “blatant partisanship” after it issued a stern ultimatum to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his “vote chori” allegations. The sharp rebuke from the party came after the Election Commission, in a Sunday press conference, gave Gandhi a seven-day deadline to either submit a sworn affidavit with evidence to back his claims of election theft or issue a public apology to the country.
In a post on X, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticized the poll body’s move, stating the ECI was exposing its own bias. “The CEC and his two ECs began by saying they make no distinction between the ruling party and the opposition. This is laughable, to put it very mildly, in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary,” Ramesh wrote.
The escalating war of words was triggered by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s press meet in New Delhi, where he laid down the stark choice for the Congress leader. “An affidavit will have to be given or an apology will have to be made to the country. There is no third option. If the affidavit is not received within 7 days, it means that all these allegations are baseless,” the CEC declared.
Ramesh seized on the timing and tone of the press conference, noting it was the first time the “new” ECI had spoken directly to the media rather than planting information through sources. He pointed out that the presser took place just as Rahul Gandhi was launching the INDIA bloc’s Voter Adhikar Yatra from Sasaram in Bihar.
Jairam Ramesh also claimed that the immediate controversy was fueled by a press note released by the ECI a day earlier, which he argued had unfairly shifted the responsibility of ensuring accurate voter lists onto political parties and individuals. According to Ramesh, this note “had also been met with uniform criticism from the opposition parties and widespread criticism from the general public.”
The Congress has maintained that the ECI’s actions, particularly its handling of the electoral roll revision in Bihar and its public demands of an opposition leader, demonstrate a clear tilt that undermines its credibility as an impartial arbiter of the democratic process.
