Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi, Amit Shah, questions Election Commission

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, launched a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah at a press conference. Gandhi said the BJP claims it will remain in power for fifteen to fifty years. "I come from a political family, but I cannot make such a claim," he said.

Gandhi said Indira Gandhi was India's most popular leader, yet there was anti-incumbency against her. There was anti-incumbency against Vajpayee too, and against Manmohan Singh, but anti-incumbency against the current BJP government has vanished. He said the BJP has been in power for five years, then another five years. Gandhi asked why there is no anti-incumbency against the Modi-Shah government.

The country has been in ferment after differences emerged among the three chief election commissioners of the Election Commission of India over the SIR. A wave of anger against Gyanesh Kumar has risen from across the country. Amid these developments, Rahul Gandhi attacked both the Election Commission and the central government.

Gandhi said anti-incumbency against PM Modi has disappeared. He asked why anti-incumbency had vanished in Haryana. He said anti-incumbency is the biggest force in Indian politics, and he had always been surprised that it was never visible against Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Gandhi alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has manipulated all elections. He also said this is a direct attack on the Constitution, that these people are traitors, and that PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are involved in every conspiracy. Gandhi said he would not allow this betrayal of the country.

Gandhi said two election commissioners have objected to irregularities in the SIR process. He said power in Haryana has changed hands over the past fifty years, yet it keeps going to the same party and anti-incumbency suddenly disappears. He said the same thing happens in Maharashtra, where anti-incumbency also vanishes suddenly. In Uttar Pradesh, power changes between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, but it disappears there too. The same happens in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Gandhi said this remains a fundamental question for him, that he can understand a leader's popularity and a government's performance, but he cannot understand how anti-incumbency disappears.

Gandhi said a strange law was passed on 21 December 2023, which took election commissioners outside the scope of scrutiny so that no investigation can be conducted against them, placing them beyond the reach of the legal system. He said he then held a press conference on 7 February on the Maharashtra issue, in which he clearly laid out what was happening and presented evidence. He said he later gave the Prime Minister a letter of dissent, but at that time too his point was ignored.