Electoral Reforms Debate: Rahul Gandhi Takes Potshots At EC Over SIR, BJP Says ‘He’s Lying’ – Delhi News Daily

Last Updated:December 09, 2025, 20:32 IST

As Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP-led government of “capturing institutions, including the EC”, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey reminded him of the Emergency

Rahul Gandhi (left) and Nishikant Dubey spoke on the electoral reforms. (PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday shot down Opposition leader and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s attack on the Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Parliament with a point-by-point rebuttal.

As Gandhi accused the BJP-led government of “capturing institutions, including the Election Commission” during the debate on Electoral Reforms in the Lok Sabha, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey reminded him of the Emergency and the BJP debunked his statements.

ON EC, BOGUS VOTERS, SIR AND EVMs

Gandhi’s claim : Gandhi said that the Election Commission should give machine-readable voter list to political parties one month before the polls, take back guidelines on destruction of video footage after 45 days, “give us access to architecture of Electronic Voting Machines” and change the law about the composition of the committee which selects the Chief Election Commissioner and ECs. “Change the law that allows the Election Commissioner to get away with whatever they want to do. I want to assure the Election Commissioner, they might be under an impression that the law lets them get away with it. Let me remind them, we are going to change the law retrospectively and we will come and find you,” he said.

Dubey’s counter: Dubey, an MP from Godda (Jharkhand), asked how can Gandhi claim that the Election Commission (EC) is colluding with those in power to shape elections when the Congress has historically rewarded those who were at the helm of affairs at the poll body.

“All opposition parties spoke about EVMs…. I want to tell the House that the EVMs were first introduced by the Congress. (Former prime minister) Rajiv Gandhi had brought EVMs as part of a pilot project in 1987 and then, in 1991, the Narasimha Rao government introduced the electronic machines for voting,” he said, adding, “Jagannath Rao, the chairman of the Select Committees of 1961 and 1971, was a Congressman. In the 1971 report, HR Gokhale, who was the Law Minister of the Congress, said in both the reports that the SIR is required…The 1961 committee had also recommended that polls should be conducted using EVMs to avoid rigging.”

Dubey stated that his parents’ names were struck off during the SIR process. The BJP MP said he was pleased because his parents live in Delhi and therefore do not have the right to vote in Bihar.

He also cited some statistics in Parliament. He mentioned the Valmiki Nagar seat in Bihar. He said that the vote deletion there was 2,311, and the Congress won by 1,675 votes. In the Chanpatia seat, the deletion from SIR was 1,033, and the Congress won by 602 votes. In the Dhaka seat, the deletion was 457, and RJD won by 178 votes. In the Forbesganj seat, the deletion was 1,400, and the Congress won by 221 votes. In the Balrampur seat, the deletion was 1,468, and the LJP (R) won by 389 votes. In the Ramgarh seat, the deletion was 1,197, and the Bahujan Samaj Party won by 30 votes. In Jehanabad, the deletion was 1,832, and the RJD won by 793 votes. After recounting these figures, he said, “We are going to lose…but we don’t do vote politics, we do national politics.”

Dubey added, “If anyone wants to distort or twist the pages of history, they should learn from the Congress. Today, a Congress speaker, while giving a big speech, said that Rajiv Gandhi made the biggest amendment to the electoral reforms in this country in 1988. What amendment did he make? The age which was 21 years was reduced to 18 years. The 1972 Joint Committee report recommended that the age should be 18 years instead of 21… You were able to implement it after 16 years.”

BJP’s explainer: The BJP, in a post on X, further responded: “Rahul Gandhi says Election Commissioners used to be selected by committee consisting of CJI and LoP. Can Rahul name one election commissioner during Congress govt chosen by committee with either CJI or LoP? The committee was made temporarily till new law was made. Congress PM till now appointed Election Commissioners directly.”

“Did Rahul Gandhi Forget his UPA Rule? In 2005, Sonia Gandhi appointed Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner. What authority did Sonia have? In 2012, New Chief Election Commissioner was to be appointed to overlook Lok Sabha 2014. LK Advani Ji suggested Congress to make a collegium to select CEC. Congress ignored it and directly appointed VS Sampath as CEC, immediately got clearance from President Pratibha Patil. Opposition wasn’t even taken into confidence on appointment. Today LoP is part of committee to select CEC. Instead of constructively assist in selection of new CEC, all Rahul Gandhi does is Drama,” said the party.

The party further wrote: “Rahul said the 2023 law was changed to ‘protect Election Commissioners from punishment.’

FACTS:

✔️ Protection from criminal prosecution for official duties has always existed — for ECs and senior govt officials.

✔️ The Election Commission is a quasi-judicial body and enjoys judicial immunity.

✔️ In 75 years, not a single Election Commissioner has ever been prosecuted for their official actions.

Rahul’s dubious claim shows his preparation is as weak as his debating skills.”

ON CAPTURE OF INSTITUTIONS

Gandhi’s claim: Gandhi, in his speech, accused the BJP-led government of capturing institutions such as the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED). “I am saying that institutions of India are captured, and I will come to the point that the Election Commission is captured. The project of the RSS was to capture the institutional framework of the country and I said how the education system has been captured. Vice Chancellor after Vice Chancellor after Vice Chancellor is placed not on merit, not on capability, not on scientific temper, but on the fact that he belongs to a particular organization,” he said.

“Second capture, which helps in destroying democracy, the capture of the intelligence agencies, we have the Home Minister sitting here, the capture of the CBI, of the ED, of the Income Tax Department, and the systematic placement of bureaucrats who favour their ideology and attack the opposition and anybody who chooses to oppose the RSS,” he said.

Dubey’s counter: Dubey said, “They (Congress) talk of transparency. Congress worker Batuk Singh was the UPSC chairman for 10 years. The country’s first chief election commissioner, Sukumar Sen, was appointed as Sudan’s governor. V S Ramadevi was later appointed as Himachal Pradesh’s governor. T N Seshan was made a poll candidate against the BJP from Ahmedabad, M S Gill remained a cabinet minister for 10 years after his retirement.” “And the Congress still talks of honesty and transparency,” Dubey said.

BJP’s explainer: The BJP post said, “Rahul: “Why isn’t CCTV available after 45 days? Make it available.” Reality:

– The limit for filing an election petition to challenge election results is 45 days (after result declaration) under Representation of People Act, 1951.

• So extending CCTV access beyond this legal window has no purpose.

• Nothing is “deleted” — access ends because the legal challenge period ends.

• As per the EC’s June guidelines, CCTV/webcast footage is accessible only to the High Court during an election petition.

• Public release of raw footage can expose voters to pressure, targeting, and harassment, which is why strict protection is essential.”

The BJP also debunked Gandhi’s claim on EVM. The post said, “Gandhi said — “We are not allowed to physically see an EVM. We don’t know its architecture.”

Facts:

✅ Every polling agent — including Congress’ — physically handles and tests EVMs during the mandatory mock poll conducted at every single booth before voting begins. They inspect the machine, verify its functioning, and sign the procedure sheet before the EVM is sealed.

✅ If Congress still says it has ‘never seen an EVM’, that’s their ignorance — not an Election Commission failure.

✅ EVMs have been used in India since 1982 (Paravur Assembly by-election in Kerala). Congress participated then — without any “architecture” complaints.

✔ Full rollout began in early 2000s across Lok Sabha and Assembly elections — a period when Congress or Congress-backed governments ruled at the Centre and states.”

ON RSS

What Gandhi said: Gandhi accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of believing in a hierarchy and that “they believe that they should be on top of that hierarchy”. “It is the idea that every thread, every person in the Union of India is equal that disturbs my friends in the RSS. They are happy to see the fabric, but they cannot stand the idea that every single person in the fabric of our country, regardless of what religion they come from, regardless of what community they come from, regardless of what language they speak, should be equal because they fundamentally do not believe in equality. They believe in a hierarchy, and they believe that they should be on top of that hierarchy,” Gandhi said.

“On 30th January, 1948, three bullets pierced the chest of Mahatma Gandhi. Nathuram Godse assassinated the father of our nation. Today, our friend does not embrace him. Today, our friends have pushed him away. This is an uncomfortable truth. But that’s not where the project ended. As I said, everything has emerged from the vote. All the institutions have emerged from the vote. So it’s obvious that the RSS has to capture all the institutions that have emerged from it. After Gandhiji’s assassination, the next step of the project was the wholesale capture of India’s institutional framework,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi began his speech by stating that Mahatma Gandhi laid a lot of emphasis on Khadi. “Why was it that he framed the entire Indian freedom struggle around the concept of khadi, and why is it that he only wore Khadi? Because Khadi is not just a cloth. Khadi is the expression of the people of India; it is the imagination, it is the sentiment, it is the productive force of the people of India…,” he said.

“But if you look slightly deeper, you will find that each one of them has thousands of little threads embracing each other… No one thread is superior to another thread. The threads cannot protect you. The threads cannot keep you warm. But when they come together as a fabric, they can keep you warm, protect you, and express what you have in your heart. In the same way, our nation is also a fabric made up of 1.4 billion people, and the fabric is woven together by the vote. This House where I am standing today, the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Vidhan Sabha across the country, Panchayats across the country, none of them would exist if the vote did not exist,” he added.

Dubey’s counter: “I am proud that we belong to RSS,” said Dubey. He accused the Congress of dividing India. He cited the book ‘Indian National Congress and the Muslims’ to allege historical compromises by the party. Dubey also highlighted demographic changes in his constituency, Santhal Pargana, claiming the tribal population has dropped from 45% to 28% due to illegal infiltration. He further criticised the Congress for the 1975 Emergency and the misuse of institutions like the CBI and Election Commission in the past.

With PTI, ANI, Ageny inputs

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