‘Oath Mandatory Only If Not A Voter In Constituency’: CEC Counters Rahul Gandhi’s Stance

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday countered Rahul Gandhi’s recent “Constitution oath” argument regarding his allegations of vote theft, clarifying the specific legal circumstances under which an oath is mandatory when lodging a complaint. The CEC explained that if an individual is not a registered voter in the constituency where the alleged irregularity occurred, the law requires them to file the complaint as a witness and take an oath.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Kumar cited the specific provision, stating, “If you are not a voter of that constituency, then you have only one option in the law and that is The Registration Of Electors Rules, rule number 20, sub-clause (3), sub-clause (b) which says that… you can lodge your complaint as a witness and you will have to give an oath to the electoral registration officer and that oath will have to be administered in front of the person against whom you have complained.”

This direct clarification comes just days after the Congress leader pushed back against the Election Commission’s demand for a sworn affidavit to substantiate his “vote theft” claims. Gandhi had argued that his oath taken in Parliament while holding the Constitution was sufficient, stating, “The ECI asks me to file an affidavit and give information under oath.

I have taken an oath inside the Parliament holding the Constitution.” The demand for an affidavit followed Gandhi’s serious allegations that the Election Commission had colluded with the BJP to “steal” the recent Lok Sabha election from the people, a charge the poll body has vehemently denied.

The heated exchange is part of a larger political firestorm over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the state’s Assembly polls. The opposition has alleged that this exercise is a conspiracy to manipulate the election outcome by selectively deleting names from the voter list to benefit the ruling BJP.

Earlier on Sunday, during the launch of his 1,300-km Voter Adhikar Yatra in Sasaram, Rahul Gandhi doubled down on his accusations. “In the whole country, Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen, and their last conspiracy is to delete and add voters through SIR to steal the elections in Bihar,” he declared, vowing that the people of Bihar would not let their votes be stolen.