Rahul Gandhi Calls 2024 Election 'Illegal', Warns Top Poll Official: Top Quotes

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the 2024 Lok Sabha election was "illegal" and warned Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar that he would not survive in office. Mr Gandhi was speaking at an opposition event organised to press the case for the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner, where he described the campaign against the poll body as a fight to protect the votes of ordinary Indians.

Mr Gandhi claimed that 13.3 crore voters were deleted from the electoral rolls, which he described as one in every seven Indians. He said the last general election was decided by a margin of about three percentage points, and argued that if the Commission itself accepts that those voters should not have voted, then the mandate stands questioned. He did not present supporting documents at the event.

No court or constitutional authority has held the 2024 general election to be illegal. The Election Commission has consistently rejected allegations that eligible voters were improperly struck off the rolls, maintaining that deletions followed statutory procedure, including due notice and an opportunity for affected persons to raise objections. Ruling party leaders have also rejected the charges, accusing the opposition of trying to discredit constitutional institutions without evidence.

Under Indian law, the Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only through a process similar to that for a Supreme Court judge, requiring a special majority in both Houses of Parliament on grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The opposition does not currently have the numbers to initiate such a step.

Here are the key remarks from Mr Gandhi's address:

On the election: "The Election Commission itself is stating that the 2024 Lok Sabha election is an illegal election, and the people who entered the Lok Sabha, the BJP people who entered the Lok Sabha, did so illegally."

On deleted voters: "13.3 crore voters were deleted. That is one in every seven Indians. 15% of India's voters were deleted. The difference between the opposition and those who won the election was a 3% vote margin."

On the Chief Election Commissioner: "Mr Gyanesh Kumar is not going to survive as the Chief Election Commissioner. We already have enough proof to make sure that this gentleman cannot survive. And if the BJP insists on keeping him after we reveal what we know, then it will be very clear what the BJP's game is."

On the evidence he says the opposition holds: Mr Gandhi described the material as "an extremely dangerous political weapon" directed at a chain of people, "starting from Mr Gyanesh Kumar, going to Mr Modi, going to Mr Shah, and every single person who has colluded to destroy the vote of the Indian people".

To poll officials: "Remember, you will not always hide behind that institution. Remember that one day, today or tomorrow, you are going to face the representatives of the people of India."

Addressing officials directly, he said: "Mr Modi and Mr Shah might be on top. We will deal with them, but you are their instruments, and so you are our first target. So if Mr Gyanesh Kumar thinks, or the five or seven people below him think, that immunity will save them, I would kindly suggest to them, with love and affection, to take a look at what is going on in the country."

On the road ahead: Mr Gandhi said the opposition would take its campaign to the streets of Delhi the following day, adding that the coming together of opposition parties was meant to show "the mood of the people of this country". He said: "You can continue to rig the elections. You can continue to control and allow the misuse of the CBI, the ED, and every single institution of this country. But we guarantee you that this is a temporary phenomenon."

The remarks sharpen an ongoing confrontation between the opposition and the Election Commission over the handling of electoral rolls and the conduct of the 2024 election. The Commission has defended its procedures, and the dispute is now centred on whether the opposition can translate its allegations into institutional action.