Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sharpened his attacks against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Modi government during the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Dilli’ protest rally in Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, on Sunday (November 1, 2026)
Addressing the gathering, Gandhi repeated his typical rhetoric and accused the CEC of facilitating the alleged theft of votes during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise undertaken by the Election Commission. Gandhi claimed that the alleged vote theft amounted to committing treason.
He further claimed that CEC Gyanesh Kumar is the reason the BJP won the election, PM Modi became the Prime Minister, and Amit Shah became the Union Home Minister. “…Without Gyanesh Kumar, Narendra Modi would not have become the Prime Minister and Amit Shah would not have become the Union Home Minister,” Gandhi claimed during his speech at the rally.
ज्ञानेश कुमार ने ‘वोट चोरी’ की है, देशद्रोह किया है। ज्ञानेश कुमार के बिना न नरेंद्र मोदी प्रधानमंत्री बनते और न अमित शाह गृह मंत्री बनते। : INDIA गठबंधन की महारैली में नेता विपक्ष श्री @RahulGandhi 📍 रामलीला मैदान, दिल्ली https://t.co/1bJzCyDHvD
— Congress (@INCIndia) November 1, 2026
While the Opposition’s entire claim of ‘Vote Chori’ rests on unproved allegations, Gandhi’s claim that the CEC is responsible for Narendra Modi and Amit Shah winning elections fails the basic factual scrutiny. Through his claim, Gandhi implied that CEC Gyanesh somehow influenced or skewed the poll results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which led to the BJP retaining power and forming government at the Centre for a third consecutive time.
While the BJP did emerge victorious in the last Lok Sabha elections, the elections were held before Gyanesh Kumar assumed the office of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). The 2024 Lok Sabha Elections were held between April and June. The results of the elections were announced in the first week of June.
Not until nine months after the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha election results was Gyanesh Kumar appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner. Kumar was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India on February 17, 2025, and officially assumed charge on February 19, 2025.
Clearly, Gyanesh Kumar did not even hold the office of the CEC when the BJP won the general elections, so the question of him influencing the election or the result in the party’s favour does not arise.
Evidently, facts do not matter for Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc parties, who have been overcome by despair because of recurring electoral failures. The Opposition has been trying to execute a regime change to grab power in the guise of anti-SIR protests.
