NEW DELHI: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday attacked leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of the Election Commission and demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, saying such remarks would send a “wrong message to society”.Speaking to reporters, Rijiju said, “It is not appropriate to amplify Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in the public sphere, as it would send the wrong message to society.”His remarks came days after Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attack on the Centre and the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Rahul had alleged that the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections were “all rigged” and demanded the immediate resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters on Thursday, the Congress leader accused the Election Commission of failing to protect voters’ rights and alleged that the electoral process had been compromised.“Mr Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately. We are not going to let democracy be destroyed in India and sit silent, and the people responsible for this are going to be punished,” the Rae Bareli MP said.Rahul also referred to reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections on several occasions over decisions related to electoral-roll management and the SIR exercise.“The two Election Commissioners have done a wise thing, and I appreciate it,” he said. Rahul further alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were “at the top of this conspiracy” and would be investigated. He also said Kumar should “turn approver”.“I can say with certainty that Indian elections — 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls — were all rigged,” Rahul said. He also linked his allegations over electoral rolls to the functioning of Parliament and other institutions.“From vote chori (vote theft), comes kanoon chori (law theft) and from that comes sanstha chori (institutional theft),” he said.The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections reflected a disagreement over its final decisions.The poll panel said on Saturday that key decisions related to the SIR, including orders and schedules, were taken with the “unanimous approval” of all three commissioners.It also clarified that a letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, which had drawn scrutiny, concerned the functioning of an officer on deputation to the ECI and was not related to any policy matter, ANI reported.The clarification came after an Indian Express report said that Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months on issues including voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6 and access to electoral-roll databases.The ECI said the SIR order issued on June 24, 2025, covering all states and Union territories, was approved unanimously. It also said the schedules for subsequent phases were issued with the unanimous approval of the Commission.Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also criticised the Congress and its allies over their attacks on the Election Commission and the SIR.“Congress and its allies should apologise to the constitutional institutions of the country and to the people for their actions,” Adityanath said.He said the SIR was not being conducted for the first time and pointed to earlier exercises carried out in 1952, 1957, 1961, 1965-66 and 2003.“Despite all this, the kind of uproar that the Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD and other parties have created over the SIR this time is extremely unfortunate,” he added.
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Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde also criticised the opposition over its demand for Kumar’s resignation. He alleged that Congress and its allies question the credibility of the Election Commission and EVMs after losing elections.“We are seeing what is happening. When the Congress wins in Telangana, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, the Opposition does not comment on the Election Commission,” Shinde added.The political row comes amid continuing scrutiny of the Election Commission’s handling of the SIR. Opposition parties, including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), have demanded Kumar’s resignation.
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