‘Fight for One Man One Vote’: Rahul Gandhi after protest near EC HQ; refuses to sign oath on ‘vote-theft’ claim | India News

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi has declined to sign a sworn declaration backing his “vote-theft” allegations against the Election Commission of India, despite repeated calls from the poll body.Reiterating that the documents he cited for his “vote theft” claims came from the Election Commission’s own data, the Congress leader called it a fight for “One Man, One Vote” and questioned the state of democracy, noting that “300 MPs” were denied a meeting with the poll body.His remarks came after being released from Delhi Police detention during the INDIA bloc’s protest march to the EC office.“Why should I sign an oath? This is their data, not mine. They should take it from their own website. They are just diverting attention. And no one should think this happened only in Bengaluru; it happened in many constituencies. Today, the Election Commission is trying to hide something, but I want to tell you that one day, everything will come out,” he said.“See the condition of India’s democracy. 300 MPs wanted to meet the Election Commission to present a document, but they were not allowed. They are scared. What if 300 MPs come and their truth is revealed? This fight is not political anymore. This fight is for the Constitution and for One Man One Vote… We have clearly shown in Karnataka, it was Multiple Man, Multiple Vote… The entire opposition is fighting against this. It will be very difficult for the Election Commission to hide now,” he added.EC, on Monday, again pressed upon Gandhi to either submit a signed declaration or “apologise to the country”.Gandhi, on August 7, said internal analysis had projected 16 Lok Sabha seats for Congress in Karnataka, but the party won only nine. Investigating seven surprise defeats, he pointed to Mahadevapura, alleging “vote theft” involving 100,250 ballots.“We found 100,250 votes stolen in five different ways. Duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address, in a building with 50–60 people living. But when we go there, there is no record of those people living there. One family living in that house,” Rahul Gandhi had said.