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Union Minister Kiren Rijiju criticized Rahul Gandhi for making “bogus claims” to tarnish the Election Commission’s image, calling Congress’s criticism politically motivated.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, saying that he is making “bogus claims” to “tarnish” the image of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
While addressing a press conference, Rijiju termed the Congress party’s criticism of the Election Commission over alleged voter list manipulation as “politically motivated”.
“The claims made by Rahul Gandhi and his team are bogus and are targeting the Election Commission of India to tarnish its image,” he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
#WATCH | Delhi | Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju says, “Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls has happened numerous times…In Maharashtra, the same electoral rolls when the Congress party and its allies won a majority of the seats in the Lok… pic.twitter.com/FwCbtfKAJ7— ANI (@ANI) August 7, 2025
Pointing out that the Congress had played similar tactics wherever it lost, be it Maharashtra and Haryana, the senior BJP leader said the grand-old-party maligns constitutional institutions whenever decisions do not favour them.
“Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls has happened numerous times…In Maharashtra, the same electoral rolls when the Congress party and its allies won a majority of the seats in the Lok Sabha, they were praising and when they lost badly in assembly elections, it became problematic for them,” Rijiju added.
He further highlighted that Congress even targeted the Supreme Court after it hit out at Gandhi for claiming that China had annexed a large stretch of Indian territory, saying that a “true Indian” wouldn’t make such a remark.
“Yesterday they targeted the Supreme Court of India and Congress leadership said that Supreme Court cannot decide who is genuine Indian…If Supreme Court cannot regulate the behaviour of citizen, then who will?… Whenever it does not suit them, they attack the institutions…” he added.
What Rahul Gandhi Claimed?
Rijiju’s remarks came hours after the former Congress president again accused the poll watchdog of colluding with the BJP to rig the Lok Sabha elections in the country.
While addressing a press conference, Gandhi claimed that fake people were being added to voter lists and attempted to validate his point by showing the Karnataka electoral rolls.
“Elections are choreographed… Our internal polling told us we would win 16 seats in Karnataka; we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We chose one Lok Sabha, and our team decided we could only focus on one Vidhan Sabha (seat). So we focused on Mahadevapur. Here is the broad math. All data is 2024 data from the Election Commission,” he said.
“Total votes polled in the Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakhs. The BJP won with 6,58,915, securing a margin of 32,707. But then we look at Mahadevapura, where Congress polls 1,15,586 and BJP polls 2,29,632. Congress wins all Vidhan Sabhas but this one. This seat wins them the election,” he added.
Reiterating his claims on fake voters in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections, he alleged that the number of voters added to the list in the five months ahead of the polls was more than the people added in the last five years.
No SIR Discussion In Parliament
Earlier on Wednesday, the government turned down the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on electoral roll revision in Bihar, saying that matters pending before the judiciary cannot be discussed on the floor of the House.
While speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rijiju stressed that the rules of the Lok Sabha do not allow sub-judice matters to be discussed in the House. He also pointed out that the functioning of autonomous institutions such as the Election Commission cannot be discussed in Parliament.
“The government has been very open to taking up discussion on any matter. However, any discussion in the Parliament has to be in accordance with constitutional provisions and also in accordance with the rules as prescribed in the procedure and conduct of business in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
Over 10 petitions have been filed in the apex court against SIR, including by opposition parties and NGO ’Association for Democratic Reforms’, the lead petitioner.
The opposition has been creating uproar in both houses of Parliament on their demand for a discussion on SIR, which they allege is aimed at disenfranchising a large number of voters.
On Wednesday, several MPs of the INDIA bloc parties held a protest in the Parliament House complex against SIR and demanded its rollback as well as a debate on it in both Houses of Parliament.
(With inputs from agencies)
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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