Lok Sabha Winter Session: Rahul Gandhi’s 3 suggestions for reforms in election process & an ‘anti-national’ jibe at NDA

Gandhi’s three suggestions are:

1. All political parties should be given machine readable voter lists at least a month ahead of the polling dates
2. Roll back of the law allowing the destruction of CCTV footage after a period of time
3. Architecture of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) to be shown to experts

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi asserted that India’s democracy rests on the sanctity of the vote. “Our nation is a fabric of 1.5 billion people and it is woven together by vote,” he said, stressing that the electoral process is the foundation that binds the country together.

Targeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Congress leader said the idea that every person in India is equal “disturbs my friends in the RSS”. He further alleged that the RSS “fundamentally does not believe in equality” and instead believes in “a hierarchy”. Gandhi also claimed that the RSS’ project after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination was the “wholesale capture of India’s institutional framework”.

Raising serious allegations against the Election Commission (EC), Gandhi said there is an “institutional capture” of the poll body that directly controls the election system of the country. “I have given proof how EC is colluding with those in power to shape elections,” he told the House.

Rahul Gandhi’s three questions

The Congress leader said he wanted to ask three questions which, according to him, would make it clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “directing” and “using” the Election Commission to damage India’s democracy. The three questions are:

1. Questioning changes in the selection process of election commissioners, he asked why the Chief Justice of India (CJI) was removed from the selection panel for appointing election commissioners.
2. He also questioned why the Prime Minister and Home Minister “gave the gift of immunity” to election commissioners by changing the law
3. Why the law on CCTV footage retention was altered

Further intensifying his attack, Gandhi alleged that the Haryana elections were “stolen” and that the theft was “ensured by the EC”.

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Emphasising the global standing of India’s democratic system, Gandhi said, “We are not just the biggest democracy, we are the greatest democracy.” He warned that tampering with the electoral process strikes at the very soul of the nation. “The biggest anti-national act you can do is vote ‘chori’; when you destroy the vote, you destroy the idea of India,” he said.

He also accused members on the Treasury benches of carrying out what he described as an anti-national act. “Those across the aisle are doing an anti-national act by committing vote ‘chori’,” Gandhi said during his address.