CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign; Modi, Shah to be investigated for ‘stealing votes’, says Rahul Gandhi

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addresses the media on CEC Gyanesh Kumar row at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on September 24, 2026. | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (24 September 2026) reiterated that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar should step down immediately, amid growing calls for his removal.

Mr Gandhi also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah conspired to “steal votes” and support the CEC and said they “will be investigated” for this. His press conference came after reports of dissent within the Election Commission of India (ECI). In his speech, Mr. Gandhi said that the two Election Commissioners (ECs) had done a wise thing and Mr. Kumar should think seriously and become an approver in the interest of the country.

Watch LIVE updates, highlights from Rahul Gandhi’s press meet on 24 September 2026

He also said that both the ECs started opposing Mr. Kumar after the Congress repeatedly raised the “vote chori” issue after the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections.

“I can say with certainty that the Indian elections, the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls have all been rigged,” Gandhi said.

Referring to a dissenting note he gave during Mr Kumar’s appointment in February 2025, he said the government had “thrown away” the note.

At the start of his speech, Mr Gandhi played older videos of Home Minister Amit Shah saying the BJP would stay in power for at least 30 to 50 years after its 2014 victory. He also played a video of PM Modi saying BJP will win 400 seats in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He says every leader and party faced anti-establishment except Mr Modi and Mr Shah. “This is a puzzle for us. Where has Indian political power gone?” he says.

“On the basis of voting, the constitution gets its power; the constitution makes our laws. And our laws make our institutions. This is the chain, and this chain defines modern India… If the vote has been destroyed, our constitution has been destroyed; it no longer has its power, it no longer works; if our constitution has been destroyed, our laws are illegal. And if our laws are illegal, our institutions are meaningless,” he said.

He said any laws and institutional changes made in parliament by MPs who are elected by “stolen vote” are “illegal”.

“This is not just an attack on voting. This is an attack on an idea, on basic infrastructure, on the expression of every single Indian. We have said again and again and again that there is a problem with voting,” he added.

Published – 24 Sep 2026 18:09 IST