New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday strongly endorsed Rahul Gandhi’s charge that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has lost its neutrality, alleging that recent elections had exposed serious flaws in the electoral process.
Speaking at the Congress’s “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” rally at Ramlila Maidan, Hooda said the polls held in Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka had “proved” what Gandhi had been warning about for months — that the constitutional authority entrusted with safeguarding free and fair elections had failed in its duty.
“The Constitution gave every citizen the right to vote after Independence. Today, that very right is being manipulated,” Hooda declared, accusing the ruling establishment of large-scale interference in the voting process.
He also pointed to growing public distrust in electronic voting machines (EVMs), noting that citizens were increasingly demanding a return to a more transparent system. “Even the common man says, get rid of EVMs,” he remarked.
Citing international precedent, Hooda referred to Germany, where courts had ruled that electronic voting systems were vulnerable to manipulation and therefore unacceptable in a democracy. He argued that India must heed such warnings and restore credibility to its electoral process.
The veteran Congress leader warned that the party would not remain silent in the face of what he described as a systematic assault on democracy. “This will not stop here. There will be a movement across the country, led by Rahul Gandhi, to protect the people’s right to vote,” Hooda said, signalling the party’s intent to escalate its campaign against alleged “vote chori.”
The rally, which brought together the Congress’s top leadership, is part of a broader push to highlight concerns over electoral integrity. Hooda’s remarks added weight to Gandhi’s ongoing offensive against the ECI and the BJP, framing the issue as a battle for the very foundation of India’s democracy.
--IANS
sktr/uk