Piyush Goyal Challenges Rahul Gandhi Over Election Commission Claims

Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Rajiv Ranjan Singh held a joint press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on October 13 to challenge allegations of vote theft and partiality within the Election Commission of India. Goyal posed ten specific questions to Rahul Gandhi, demanding concrete evidence and affidavits to support claims of electoral irregularities. He specifically questioned why the Congress party opposes the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which is designed to remove deceased and duplicate voters.

Goyal accused the Congress party of undermining the independence of the Election Commission by rewarding former officials with political appointments and civilian awards. He cited the 1999 Lok Sabha election ticket given to former Chief Election Commissioner TN Seshan and the appointment of Naveen Chawla in 2005 as examples of institutional interference. He further alleged that the party bribed officials to ensure dependency.

These accusations follow protests led by Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. While the opposition has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging commission decisions, the court registry has flagged 14 defects in the filing. Additionally, Rajiv Ranjan Singh accused Gandhi of attempting to pressure constitutional institutions through protests, while Goyal alleged that Gandhi misbehaved with a pregnant journalist during the demonstrations.