The Opposition is weighing an impeachment notice against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged “vote chori”, sources said. Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi remarked, “We will be taking a decision very soon.” However, the Opposition lacks the two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament required to remove a CEC.
On Sunday, Kumar mounted a strong defence of the Election Commission, rejecting accusations of electoral fraud raised by Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Without naming Gandhi, he dismissed the “PPT presentation” shared by the Leader of Opposition as a “wrong analysis” of voter data, and challenged him to either submit an affidavit within seven days or “apologise to the nation.”
At his August 7 press conference, Gandhi had cited alleged irregularities such as duplicate entries, voters with house number zero, and dozens registered at the same address. Kumar countered these claims, citing the Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka — where Congress won the 2023 state polls — as an example of misrepresentation.
He clarified that complaints on the draft list of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar would not be entertained after September 1. Addressing duplicate voting allegations, he stressed that having a name in more than one booth is not the same as voting twice, which is a criminal offence.
“When asked for proof, no answer was given,” Kumar said. “The Election Commission stood, stands, and will stand like a rock with all voters of all religions and all sections of society.”
Rejecting Gandhi’s charge that duplicate names amounted to “vote chori,” Kumar underlined that electoral rolls and the act of voting are governed by different laws and processes. “When a voter presses the button, he can press it only once — vote theft cannot happen,” he asserted.
Responding to Opposition claims that the SIR in Bihar was being rushed, Kumar noted that the Representation of People Act mandates rectification before every election. The outreach to over seven crore voters in Bihar began on June 24 and was largely completed by July 20. He pointed out that the last SIR in 2003 was also conducted in the monsoon, from July 14 to August 14.
Appealing to all 12 political parties involved in the revision through booth-level agents, Kumar urged them to flag errors before September 1. He also clarified that reports of 22 lakh voter deaths in six months were misleading, as they represented cases spread over nearly two decades.
“One needs to have the stomach to listen to and understand the truth,” Kumar said, stressing that the revision drive was intended to ensure cleaner rolls and reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to protecting the sanctity of India’s elections
