Country will ask for affidavit from Election Commission of India: Rahul Gandhi

A day after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar gave an ultimatum to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to file an affidavit regarding his allegations of voter roll manipulations in Karnataka within a week, the Congress leader hit back at the CEC saying that “the entire country will ask for an affidavit from the Election Commission of India”.

“A day will come when the INDIA bloc will have a government in Bihar as well in the Centre. Then action would be taken. Election Commissioner, you understand it very well, that if you will not do your job properly, then strict action is going to be taken against you,” Mr. Gandhi, who is on his ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, said at a rally in Gaya district on Monday (August 18, 2025).

“Election Commission has said that if I do not give an affidavit in one week then what I said is baseless. Wait for some time, the entire country will ask for an affidavit from it. We will reveal vote theft in every State. SIR is a new way to steal votes,” he alleged.

The Congress leader urged the crowd to prevent “vote theft” in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election. Mr. Gandhi said “the people of Bihar will teach a lesson” to the poll body and Prime Minister Narendra Modi “if they attempt vote theft” in the State.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, while addressing the rally, said the CEC has taken “membership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)“.

“We have to throw out the BJP who are cunning people… CEC Gyanesh Kumar should tell whether he has taken a membership of BJP. Whatever instructions come from the PMO and Narendra Modi, Gyanesh Kumar speaks,” he said.

Mr. Yadav urged the people to support the Grand Alliance in Bihar to form the government. He credited Mr. Gandhi with “destroying” the alleged “design of the BJP” to remove the names of the voters from the draft rolls.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi, along with INDIA bloc leaders, resumed their march from Kutuma in Aurangabad district after visiting the Sun Temple in Deo. They took out a roadshow in Aurangabad where a large number of party workers and supporters joined in raising slogans against SIR, the poll body, Mr. Modi and the BJP.

Mr. Gandhi, Mr. Yadav, CPI (ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya and Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani interacted with people who had voted in the last few elections but whose names have been struck off the draft rolls.

In a message on X, Mr. Gandhi said, “Those who voted in the last 4-5 elections, their votes were also stolen in Bihar. And, when the reason was asked, only one answer was given – orders came from above. This is a fight for the rights of the poor – we will not stop. We will put an end to vote theft.”