Last Updated:
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh criticised Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the election system is dead and the 2024 polls were rigged, urging Gandhi to present evidence.
Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (File)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “atom bomb” allegation that the election system in the country “is already dead” and the Lok Sabha polls last year were “rigged”, saying that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha does not have any proof to substantiate his claim.
While addressing an event in Patna, the senior BJP leader urged the former Congress chief to drop the “atom bomb” if he has evidence to substantiate the claim.
“Rahul Gandhi said that he has prepared an atom bomb of proofs on the rigging of votes by the Election Commission… If he has an atom bomb of proof, its atomic test should be done immediately. The fact is that he does not have any proof or evidence,” Singh said as quoted by news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, says “… Rahul Gandhi said that he has prepared an atom bomb of proofs on the rigging of votes by the Election Commission… If he has an atom bomb of proofs, its atomic test should be done immediately…The fact is that he… pic.twitter.com/yY2LzqMJVm— ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2025
The Union Minister further appealed to the Congress MP to let the constitutional institutions in the country do their duty for the sake of democracy.
“Making sensational claims is his habit. Earlier, he had made similar statements. Let Constitutional institutions do their duties. It is my appeal to Rahul Gandhi. It is good for Congress’s health and good for democracy as well,” he added.
What Rahul Gandhi Claimed?
The Defence Minister’s reaction came a day after Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition accused the poll body of indulging in “vote theft” for the BJP, and claimed that his party has “open and shut” evidence for it.
Gandhi had said the Congress had conducted a six-month-long investigation into the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, uncovering what he called “open-and-shut proof” of the ECI’s complicity.
“I have said ‘vote chori’ is happening and now we have open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in ‘vote chori’,” Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex, as reported by news agency PTI.
Today, he further asserted that the election system in India was “already dead,” alleging that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were “rigged” and that he has proof to substantiate the claim.
Addressing the annual legal conclave titled ’Constitutional Challenges – Perspectives & Pathways’, 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 while addressing the gathering in the national capital.
Highlighting the six-month investigation carried out by Congress, he further alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) doesn’t exist and has disappeared. According to documentation received from the EC, Gandhi said that the Congress has ascertained that nearly 1.5 lakh voters out of 6.5 lakh who voted in the Lok Sabha elections were “fake”.
His remarks came for the second straight day, even after the poll body described his allegations as “baseless” which are being made on a daily basis.
(With inputs from agencies)
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
view comments
Read More
