"EC has become agent of BJP": Congress' Manickam Tagore

New Delhi [India], August 2 (ANI): After Rahul Gandhi claimed to have evidence of "vote theft", Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Saturday said that the Election Commission has become an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He said that top people in the Election Commission are the ones destroying the credibility of the constitutional body.
"The Election Commission has become an agent of the BJP. Especially, the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, the 7 or 8 people in the Election Commission, they are the ones destroying the credibility of the Election Commission," Tagore told ANI.
"Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has evidence for everything he has said. We will have to wait for that. The evidence will come to light. Rahul Gandhi will inform the media and the public before going to Bengaluru. The truth is about to come out," he added.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Ranjit Ranjan said that Gandhi's address today was not only about Bihar, but about the entire country since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise will be carried out in West Bengal and Assam.
"Rahul Gandhi's speech was not just about Bihar, but about the entire country and the Constitution... SIR will be done in Bihar, Bengal, and Assam, and then across the whole country; this is an attack on democracy... This has happened in Maharashtra; there is no clarification, no evidence... This is definitely a conspiracy... You have removed 2.5 lakh from somewhere, 1.5 lakh from somewhere, 3 lakh from somewhere, but there should be some evidence... Certainly, this is the blatant murder of democracy, and those who are not voting for the BJP are gradually having their voting rights taken away," Ranjan told ANI.
Gandhi today asserted that the election system in India was "already dead," and alleged that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were "rigged" and that he has proof to substantiate the claim.
Addressing the annual legal conclave titled 'Constitutional Challenges - Perspectives & Pathways', Gandhi said that he suspected over 80 Lok Sabha seats were rigged in the 2024 general elections.
"The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. The Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If 15 seats were rigged, we suspect that the number is over 70 to 80, he would not have been the Prime Minister of India. We are going to prove to you in the coming few days how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged and was rigged," Gandhi said while addressing the gathering in the national capital.
Highlighting the six-month investigation carried out by Congress, he further alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) doesn't exist and has disappeared. According to documentation received from the EC, Gandhi said that the Congress has ascertained that nearly 1.5 lakh voters out of 6.5 lakh who voted in the Lok Sabha elections were "fake".
After Rahul Gandhi alleged "vote theft" earlier, the Election Commission of India fact-checked his claim over "irregularities in 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. ECI said that the statement made by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is "misleading, baseless, and threatening." (ANI)