"This is treason": Rahul Gandhi targets EC, BJP, RSS after report on differences within commission over SIR

New Delhi [India], September 23 : Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that "vote chori" is a "crime against the Indian people" and an attack on the Constitution, as Opposition leaders continued to target the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over an Indian Express report which said that two Election Commissioners had raised objections multiple times over decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and electoral roll procedures.
In a post shared on X, Rahul Gandhi said, "Vote chori is a crime against the Indian people and a direct attack on our constitution. The BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served."
In a video shared by him, Gandhi addressed the Election Commission and election officials, saying, "I am clearly telling the Election Commission and election officers: What you are doing is wrong. This is treason, it is against the nation. Do not forget this. The time will come! We will catch you! You will not be spared."
https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/2102653326630478335
The Indian Express report had said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process.
The Election Commission sources, however, sought to play down the report, stating that all decisions of the Election Commission of India, including those related to SIR, were taken unanimously with the approval of both Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.
Congress MP Manish Tiwari also alleged that an "invisible hand" outside the poll body appeared to be influencing the functioning of the Election Commission.
"If the two Election Commissioners were repeatedly objecting to each and every decision which was being taken with regard to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and the revision still continued to go on, this means that there is an invisible hand beyond the Election Commission which seems to be running the commission," Tiwari told ANI.
He said the rules of business of the Election Commission require decisions to be taken either unanimously or by majority vote.
"The rules of business of the Election Commission are very clear that all decisions have to be taken either by unanimity or by a majority vote. If two of the Election Commissioners were objecting to these decisions, then obviously it goes to show that the decisions which have been taken... are per se arbitrary, capricious, and therefore illegal," he said.
Tiwari further said the developments could constitute grounds for seeking the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner.
"This perhaps constitutes a fit case for impeachment, for the credibility of the Election Commission as a neutral arbiter of the electoral processes," he said.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had also demanded the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and a court-monitored investigation over the issue.
Congress leader P Chidambaram also reacted to the report, saying that if the reports are correct, they raised questions over both decisions taken by the poll body and the decision-making process.
Chidambaram demanded that decisions of the ECI in recent years be reviewed by a Parliamentary Committee and called for suspension of the SIR process.
Earlier, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, RJD MP Manoj Jha, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj and CPI(M) MP John Brittas had also raised concerns over the issue.
The Opposition parties had earlier moved motions seeking the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. In April 2026, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said that 73 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs submitted a fresh notice seeking the removal of the CEC on grounds of "proven misbehaviour".
Earlier, a similar notice was submitted in the Lok Sabha, which was rejected by Speaker Om Birla after consideration, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin. The Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan also rejected the motion.