"He Must Quit": Rahul Gandhi Calls Gyanesh Kumar "Deshdrohi", BJP Reacts

Launching a broadside against the BJP and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the wake of reports that the objections of Election Commissioners, including on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, were being ignored, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has said votes are being stolen, which renders the laws made by MPs illegal. 

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, Gandhi termed Kumar a traitor, demanded his resignation and warned that the Congress would not remain silent and watch democracy in India "being destroyed". 

Pointing to statements by Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the BJP would remain in power for 30 years and that the NDA would cross 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress MP said no political leader could be so confident in a democracy because of "a fundamental force" called anti-incumbency.

"Indira Gandhi was at the height of her popularity after she won the Bangladesh war (in 1971) and then faced massive anti-incumbency and pressure within a year or two. The same thing happens to leader after leader, to Congress leaders and to regional parties. But, for some reason, it does not happen to PM Modi, Amit Shah and the BJP," he claimed.

"Haryana swings from one party to another for 50 years, but suddenly anti-incumbency disappears. Maharashtra swings; suddenly that disappears. Uttar Pradesh swings, from the Samajwadi Party to the Bahujan Samaj Party, that also disappears. And this has been a fundamental question for us. We can understand the popularity of a person. We can understand the performance of a government. But we cannot understand how anti-incumbency disappears," he added.