'Election Commission Is Compromised': Rahul Gandhi Questions Poll Body During Boston Address, BJP Hits Back With 'Badnam Bharat Yatra' Dig

New Delhi: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stirred controversy while addressing the Indian Diaspora in Boston after he alleged that the Election Commission (EC) in India was "compromised". He further stated that there was something very wrong with the system.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday hit out at Gandhi calling the Congress MP’s US visit a “Badnam Bharat Yatra”.

Here’s What Rahul Gandhi Said:

Citing the example of the Maharashtra elections, the Senior Congress leader stated that there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours, which was impossible.

"More people voted in Maharashtra than the total number of people in Maharashtra, and this is a fact... the Election Commission gave us a figure in the evening around 5:30 p.m., and in two hours around 7:30 p.m., 65 lakh voters had voted, which is physically impossible..." he claimed, addressing the meeting.

"It's very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, there is something very wrong with the system..." he further said. Notably, the Election Commission has time and again rejected poll manipulation allegations by the Opposition.

BJP’s reaction:

BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan lashed out at the Congress MP. "Rahul Gandhi who is on another 'Bharat Badnam Yatra', 'India Abuse Yatra' on foreign soil has once again, deplorably attacked India's constitutional institution and he has unsuccessfully once again tried to undermine India's democracy in a foreign country.," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi has attacked the ECI abroad... in America, he is peddling lies, falsehoods and trying to attack our ECI when the American President, Mr Donald Trump, has hailed and lauded India's electoral system and India's voter registration... This is how clueless LoP Rahul Gandhi is," he added.

BJP's Sambit Patra also slammed the Congress leader for his comments. "This is Rahul Gandhi's old habit of insulting the country on foreign soil... He has been doing this for a long time," he stated.

Taking a dig at Gandhi, BJP National spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Congress MP's aim was to humiliate Indian organisations and institutions on foreign soil.

"Rahul Gandhi's identity is to humiliate Indian organisations and institutions on foreign soil. He goes abroad and makes comments on India's Constitution, judiciary, and questions the Election Commission of India (ECI). This shows how people, while going against PM Modi, have started going against the country," Poonawalla said as quoted by ANI.

BJP leader leader Ramchander Rao on Monday slammed such remarks, claiming that the issue has been brought up because the party is "jealous of losing elections." "Rahul Gandhi, after losing almost every election in the state and also in the parliament, who once upon a time, the Congress party held over 400 seats, and now has only 90, and for the first time, they got only 40. Now they have tried to blame the Election Commission for this. EC is a Constitutional body, a statutory body so therefore, bringing up the issue and calling it fraud is objectionable," Rao told ANI in Hyderabad.

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