Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday (August 24, 2025) that all the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India) in Bihar are working united for the upcoming assembly elections and will get meaningful results.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a press conference with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav in Araria, said that the ‘India’ alliance will soon release a sharing manifesto for the election to be held later this year.

Shared manifesto for Bihar assembly elections

Gandhi said that the ‘India’ alliance will soon release a common manifesto for the Bihar assembly elections. All the constituents of the opposition coalition are working in ideological and politically united and will get meaningful results.

He said, ‘I call it a good partnership among all the constituents of’ India ‘alliance.’ Targeting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Center, Gandhi alleged that the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter list in Eastern State Bihar is an institutional effort of the Election Commission to steal votes to help the BJP.

‘Affidavit with opposition, no question from ruling party’

He said, ‘We will not let the Election Commission steal votes in Bihar. The Election Commission is working to benefit the BJP. SIR from the Election Commission is an institutional effort to help the BJP by stealing votes in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

Gandhi said that the Election Commission has been completely exposed while working for the BJP. He said, ‘When I told the Election Commission about the irregularities in preparing voter list in Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka, the Election Commission asked me for an affidavit on this issue, but when Anurag Thakur of the ruling party said the same in a press conference, the Commission did not ask for any affidavit.

‘Children are also putting’ vote thieves, the slogan of Gaddi Chhudi ‘

He said that this shows that the Election Commission is not fair. There is a need to change the partisan behavior of the Election Commission. Rahul Gandhi said, ” Voter Adhikar Yatra ‘has been very successful in Bihar and people have joined in large numbers. We have got the support of crores of people of the state, who are automatically associated with us. This has proved that the Election Commission is stealing people’s votes in Bihar.

Gandhi said, ‘The impact of our journey can be gauged from the fact that now even small children are raising the slogan of’ Vote thieves, Gaddi Chhut ‘.’ However, he refrained from giving a direct answer to the question as to why the grand alliance is not declaring Tejashwi Yadav as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the ‘India’ alliance in the upcoming election. He said, ‘We are supporting each other and we have to stop’ vote theft ‘.’

These big leaders present in the conference

In the joint press conference, Dipankar Bhattacharya of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Mukesh Sahni of Developing Human Party (VIP) and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka D.K. Many other leaders of ‘India’ alliance including Shivkumar were also present.

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The Chief Election Commissioner of the country, Gyanesh Kumar, on Sunday (August 17, 2025) denied the allegations of ‘vote theft’ from the opposition over the controversy of special intensive revision of the voter list in Bihar. While holding a press conference for the first time about the voter list process, the Election Commission said that there is no party nor opposition, all political parties are the same.

Chief Election Commissioner gave special information in press conference

During the press conference, Gyanesh Kumar gave special information about some important issues.

1. The Commission said, ‘It cannot be denied that every political party is born through registration in the Election Commission. Then how can the Election Commission discriminate between those parties? All political parties are the same for the Commission.

2. For the last two decades, there was a discussion about the change in the election process, in view of this, the Commission approved special intensive revision in Bihar.

3. In the SIR process, all voters have jointly formulated this proposal jointly with the 1.6 lakh booth level agents (BLA) nominated by various parties.

4. Gyanesh Kumar said, ‘All voters, political parties and BLOs are working honestly at the ground level. They are not only authenticating, but are also giving signature and giving videos. The commission chief said that even after such transparency, it is a matter of serious concern that the matter of certified documents and BLA nominated by the party is not reaching their own state or national level and intentionally the reality is being ignored.

5. The Commission said that when more than 7 crore voters of the country are standing with the Election Commission, neither the Election Commission nor the credibility of voters can be questioned.

6. The Chief Election Commissioner further said, ‘We saw a few days ago that pictures of many voters were presented to the media without their permission. He was accused, used. Should the Election Commission share CCTV footage of voters, their mothers, daughters -in -law or daughters? Those who are named in the voter list, they vote for choosing their candidate.

7. He said, ‘In the process of Lok Sabha elections, more than one crore employees, more than 10 lakh booth level agents, polling agents of more than 20 lakh candidates work for the election. In such a transparent process before so many people, can a voter steal the vote?

8. Gyanesh Kumar said, ‘Some voters were accused of double voting, no response was received on seeking evidence. Neither the Election Commission is afraid of such wrong allegations nor any voter is afraid. When politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by placing a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission.

He said that in such a situation, the Election Commission today wants to clarify everyone that we fearlessly stood, standing and standing with the voters of all classes and all religions including all poor, rich, elderly, women and youth.

9. The Commission said, ‘There is a ban on the voter list read by the machine. This decision of the Election Commission is after the decision of the Supreme Court and since 2019,

10. Chief Election Commissioner Dnyanesh Kumar, while raising the question, said, ‘Do you know that there is a zero number in front of the address of crores of people in this country, why? Actually, the panchayat or municipality has not given any number to their house.

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The Election Commission has given a strong reply to the recent allegations of Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The Commission said that Rahul Gandhi is repeating the old and solved things in the name of irregularities in the voter list, due to which the public is being misled.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, the Election Commission said that in 2018, the then Madhya Pradesh Congress President Kamal Nath had filed a petition in the Supreme Court by making similar allegations, but the court rejected him. The errors that were cited at that time were improved four months before the petition was filed.

Similarly, in 2025, Rahul Gandhi, while referring to the case “Aditya Srivastava”, alleged that the same person’s name is registered in three different states. The Commission says that the matter was also resolved months ago.

Give an affidavit or apologize to the country- Election Commission

Accusing Rahul Gandhi of ignoring the decisions of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission said, “Repeatedly raise the same issue shows disrespect to the decisions of the court.” The Commission also clarified that the legal process of objection and appeal on the enrollment is fixed, but Rahul Gandhi adopted the path of rhetoric in the media instead of following it. The Commission challenged Rahul and said that if Rahul Gandhi trusts his allegations, he should take legal action by giving an affidavit, otherwise the country should apologize.

Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, State Congress President D.K. Writing a letter to Shivkumar, he has asked to certify the complaint given on August 5 through affidavit. At the same time, the Commission also rejected Rahul Gandhi’s statement in which he claimed that the Commission’s website is not working.

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The Election Commission has reacted strongly to the allegations of disturbances in the voter list made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for Karnataka Lok Sabha elections 2024. The Commission has said that if no election petition (petition challenging elections) has been filed, then what is the rationale for making such baseless allegations now?

Questioning Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, the Election Commission said that no Congress candidate lost in Karnataka Lok Sabha elections 2024 has filed any election petition under Section 80 of the Representation of People Act 1951. According to the Election Commission, not a single appeal was filed on the voter list of Karnataka by the Congress or any representative under Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act 1950.

Rule of Election Petition filed within 45 days

The Commission said that according to the rules, an election petition has to be filed against any election result within 45 days. If this happens, the Election Commission protects the related material, otherwise there is a provision to remove it. The Election Commission described Rahul Gandhi’s statement as ‘unfair and threatened’ and said that it is very unfortunate to target ECI as a constitutional institution.

Along with this, the Election Commission has also asked Rahul Gandhi that if no legal petition is filed, then on this level, questioning the election process at this level and targeting the Chief Election Commissioner is being done for the purpose?

Rahul Gandhi raised questions on Election Commission

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi has claimed the Election Commission of rigging and incorrectly adding and cutting the names of voters, claiming that he has a figure of an assembly seat in Karnataka, which proves how the Election Commission disturbs the voter list.

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The Election Commission has said that Aadhaar card, ration card or earlier voter ID card is not sufficient to include someone’s name in the voter list. The Commission has said this in the reply filed in the Supreme Court in the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) case. In the last hearing, the court suggested recognition of these three documents for the identity of the voter during SIR. The next hearing of the case is to be held on July 28.

In the affidavit filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, it has been said that the voter list is being reviewed and corrected through SIR. At this time, the voter ID card that people have, it was released on the basis of the same voter list which is under the scope of review. If he is recognized while making a new list, then the whole exercise will become meaningless.
What did the Election Commission say in the affidavit regarding Aadhaar card?

The affidavit has said about the Aadhaar card that it is just an identity card, not a proof of citizenship. Therefore, no one can be given place in the voter list only due to Aadhaar card. The Commission has cited Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016. This section clearly says that the Aadhaar card does not give anyone citizenship of India.
Ration cards become fake in large numbers: Election Commission

Regarding the ration card, the Election Commission has said that it is not a reliable document to have a name in the voter list. A large number of fake cards are made. In March this year, the Government of India had talked about canceling 5 crore fake ration cards.

The Commission has made it clear that it is not forbidden to submit these documents in voter revision. If other reliable documents are given with these documents, then they can be accepted. The local Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) can decide to accept or reject them on the basis of their satisfaction. They are still being seen as a proof of identity.