Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has stepped up his attack on the Election Commission, accusing the poll panel and the BJP-led government of manipulating elections and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on 24 September 2026, Gandhi described the alleged electoral manipulation using the slogans “Vote Chori, Kanoon Chori, Sanstha Chori” — alleging “theft of votes, theft of laws and theft of institutions”. He also questioned how anti-incumbency had apparently “disappeared” in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra, alleging that repeated electoral victories were the result of manipulation of voter rolls rather than a genuine public mandate.
Gandhi further alleged that dissent within the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process pointed to deeper problems within the electoral system. He demanded the immediate resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and alleged that compromising the electoral process undermined the legitimacy of institutions and laws passed by Parliament.
But the same Congress party won in Kerala in May 2026 Assembly polls and their leaders owed it to the SIR which removed bogus votes.
Speaking to the press in May 2026 after the elections, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala was asked whether the result reflected anti-incumbency against then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan or a broader anti-government sentiment.
Chennithala said, “Both are there. Both issues were there before the people of Kerala. And moreover, there is a positive agenda put forward by the Congress also one of the major factors that has given us a credible victory in this election. Moreover, we had given a positive agenda to the people of Keralam. The five guarantees announced to the people of Keralam by Rahul Gandhi also helped us. Thirdly, the SIR was helpful in Kerala because earlier, CPM used to provide bogus votes, they even cast the votes of deceased people. All these were removed. In Kerala it was helpful to us.”
Congress in Kerala in past: ” We love SIR. SIR helped remove bogus voters. SIR helped us win Kerala Assembly elections”.
Congress exposes Rahul Gandhi on SIR.
Their Propaganda has no takers in public, not even in Congress.
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) September 25, 2026
Chennithala’s remarks are significant because he did not describe SIR as an attack on democracy in Kerala. Instead, he specifically credited the exercise with helping the Congress by removing what he alleged were bogus and deceased voters from the electoral rolls. And this exposes Rahul Gandhi’s lies about SIR.
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