Stories
BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi Over ECI-SIR Row, Cites Congress's Anti-Incumbency History
- •BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi countered Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Election Commission and his anti-incumbency claims against the BJP.
- •Trivedi defended the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and questioned The Indian Express report on internal objections.
- •Rahul Gandhi argued that anti-incumbency has disappeared for PM Modi and BJP, comparing it to regimes in Iraq and North Korea.
- •Trivedi highlighted the Congress's own electoral struggles, noting its inability to repeat governments in various states since Sonia Gandhi's entry into politics.
- •The BJP also contrasted the current transparent electoral system with past eras of booth capturing and violence during Congress rule.
Key Questions Answered
Rahul Gandhi criticised the Election Commission over a report regarding internal disagreements and claimed that elections are fundamentally broken. He argued that anti-incumbency naturally affects ruling governments in a democracy, questioning why it has seemingly not impacted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi hit back by pointing to the Congress party's poor electoral record in repeating governments across various states since December 1997. Trivedi also noted that the Congress has failed to return to power in Tamil Nadu since 1967 and in Bengal since 1977.
Election Commission sources clarified that all decisions taken by the poll panel, including those related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), were unanimous and approved by both Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner. This came after a report claimed two commissioners had raised objections on record multiple times.
