Election Commission Damaging Democracy: Rahul Gandhi's Big Charge In Lok Sabha | Top Points

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday addressed the Lok Sabha during the discussion on SIR and launched a sharp attack on the RSS and the government, alleging that India’s democratic institutions, especially the Election Commission, were being systematically weakened and captured. He backed his charge by referring to what he called “proof” of the EC’s collusion with those in power. 

Speaking from the Opposition benches, Gandhi opened his speech by invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s symbolism of Khadi, saying the fabric represents equality and unity. He said,  

“Khadi is not just a cloth. Khadi is the expression of the people of India… our nation is also a fabric,  a fabric made up of 1.4 billion people. And that fabric is woven together by the vote.” 

Gandhi argued that this very idea of equality is what “disturbs the RSS”, adding,

 “They are happy to see the fabric, but they cannot stand the idea that every single person,  regardless of religion, community, or language,  should be equal.”

He went on to link this to what he called an ongoing project to take control of every pillar of the Republic.

“After Gandhiji’s assassination, the next step of the project was the wholesale capture of India’s institutional framework,” he said, alleging that the RSS aims to dominate universities, investigative agencies and now the Election Commission.

Attacking the government directly, he said he had provided evidence of the Election Commission’s “collusion with those in power” and claimed that the electoral process itself was being compromised. Gandhi raised three pointed questions in the House:

1. Why was the Chief Justice of India removed from the selection panel of the Election Commission? What motivation could there be?
2. Why did this government, in December 2023, change the law to give Election Commissioners complete immunity from punishment for any action they take while in office?
3. Why was the law changed to allow CCTV footage of elections to be destroyed after 45 days? What is the need? This is not about data storage,  this is about stealing elections.

Gandhi also alleged large-scale irregularities in voter lists. Citing examples from Haryana and Bihar, he said, 

“We have a Brazilian woman appearing 22 times on the voter list in Haryana… one woman’s photo appearing more than 200 times in a single booth.”

He added, “The Election Commission has no answers… they have not explained why lakhs of duplicate voters exist.” He claimed similar patterns in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Gandhi said that the essence of democracy is under threat:

“Everything that we see,  this House, the Lok Sabha, the Vidhan Sabhas,  none of them would exist if the vote did not exist.”

Concluding that the government had no genuine interest in electoral reform, he said, “So when we talk about electoral reform, the truth is simple: the government does not want it.”

Rahul Gandhi’s speech, packed with symbolism, allegations and pointed questions, made it clear that the Opposition intends to frame the current political moment as a battle to “save India’s institutional fabric”,  and the Election Commission remains at the centre of that charge.