- 26 minutes ago
The Congress Working Committee has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging large-scale voter list manipulation through the Special Intensive Revision exercise and claiming the deletion of over thirteen crore names.
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00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today, your prime time destination news,
00:05newsmakers, talking points, our big talking point this Tuesday night is the Chief Election Commissioner
00:10becoming an embarrassment for the Modi government. Will the Congress's CEC Hattow campaign actually
00:16work on the ground among my special guest Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who's planning the Congress's
00:21legal strategy on the issue. But first, let's crack cracking once again with the nine headlines
00:28at nine tonight.
00:30Amidst the growing heat on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Congress steps up its demand
00:35for his resignation. Now wants Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also to resign,
00:40claiming that they are the puppeteers who are directing the Chief Election Commissioner.
00:46BJP hits back, asked why was Congress silent when they won Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
00:55Ahead of the key India bloc meeting in the national capital, DMK decides to skip the meeting once again.
01:02Amidst ongoing seat-sharing talks in UP, Akhilesh Yadav too will stay away.
01:08Samajwadi Party to send representatives instead.
01:10Mamta Banerjee though will attend.
01:15AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Oveshi demands scrapping of SIR exercise in the India Today's South Conclave,
01:21slams BJP and Congress for what he says is no meaningful political representation for Muslims.
01:31Delhi's slapgate controversy now takes another twist.
01:35Days after Minister Parvesh Verma was caught on camera slapping a worker,
01:39AAP MLA and his aides detained after they assaulted a cop while protesting against the Delhi minister.
01:47Stunning CCTV footage emerges from lovely professional university in Punjab.
01:52Masked men seen vandalizing the campus looting stores, 30 to 40 students under the scanner.
02:01Arashtra FDA Chief Sukaram Munde responds to extortion charges made by Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut
02:10seeks proof from the MP, says he has zero tolerance towards corruption.
02:16Tamil Nadu's fisher folk go up in arms against Chief Minister Vijay,
02:21which fishermen protest against a new TN secretariat,
02:24fearing loss of access to beaches, worried over loss of livelihood.
02:30Poor CISF personnel killed after colleague allegedly opens fire at camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathwa.
02:38The incident took place at a Heidel Power Project in JNK district.
02:44An India strike gold in shooting and athletics.
02:48Neeru Dhanda becomes the first Indian woman to claim an individual trap shooting gold at the Asian Games.
02:54Women's team gives India the second gold with an outstanding 4x400 metre vene run.
02:59On the brink of creating history, it's a gold medal for Vitya Rabraj.
03:05A swing!
03:13But our top story tonight is coming in from the India Alliance meeting that is scheduled tomorrow
03:21to raise the issue of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
03:24Ahead of the meeting, the DMK has once again decided to skip a meeting that is being held under the
03:30Congress's leadership.
03:31At the meeting, the opposition is expected to discuss their action plan on the ongoing controversial SIR exercise
03:38and a likely impeachment motion that they wish to move against C.C. Gyanesh Kumar.
03:44So, a mass movement is being talked about and planned by the opposition.
03:49But no DMK, Samajwadi Party also will not be sending Akhilesh Yadav.
03:55Instead, his representatives will attend.
03:58Moshmi Singh joining me.
03:59Moshmi, how should we see it?
04:01Akhilesh not attending it personally, sending a representative.
04:04DMK skipping it.
04:06Uddhav Thakre likely to join the meeting only through video conference.
04:11Are there, is there a division within the opposition?
04:15Is this entirely now a Congress-led movement with Mamata Banerjee backing them?
04:20What are you picking up?
04:21Who's driving this now?
04:26Rajdeep, we've heard that before during India Bloc meetings on several issues.
04:30You know, one or the other leader skipping it out.
04:33So, the permutations and combinations haven't really fit in 100 and 100.
04:39But importantly, you know, like Akhilesh Yadav not coming.
04:42The Congress was saying the Rajshav elections are on the potboiler.
04:46And there is a lot of maneuvering that's happening.
04:48Akhilesh has already mentioned it to the top brass and that's the reason he's sending Ram Gopal Yadav.
04:55And there have been several times when representatives have been sent.
04:58Him and Suray and to Uddhav Thakre have joined the Zoom meetings before if they've not attended it in person.
05:06So, I think that this is a start of a rallying point as far as, you know, realigning and uniting
05:14the India Bloc is concerned.
05:16Consider this that the TMC is joining the bandwagon.
05:20The TMC is acting as, in fact, a catalyst.
05:22But I'm told that DD calling up all the leaders.
05:27Just like Nitish Kumar did once before he walked out of the India Alliance.
05:32So, I think this is a long race for them and not much can be read in a day.
05:37But importantly is that will they stick to also Congress's demand of a resignation of the Prime Minister and the
05:44Home Minister?
05:45And will it be about the impeachment or will it be to make force the CEC to resign is what
05:53has Priyanka Gandhi underlined.
05:55That will force the CEC to resign through mass movements.
05:59That's the big question whether the India Bloc leader has been agreed to.
06:06A very, very quick answer, Moshpi.
06:08Has the India Bloc given up on the DMK?
06:11Or are they still hopeful that the DMK will join them if there is a mass movement against the Chief
06:15Election Commissioner?
06:16Quick answer.
06:20Now, that's a setback because CEC Venugopala, I asked that pointed question to him and he didn't really have an
06:26answer.
06:27You know, I don't think that the DMK is really going to be aligned with the Congress for some time
06:32now.
06:33And that is the setback for the Congress, I think.
06:39Okay, let's leave it there at the moment.
06:41So, all eyes now will be on the India Alliance meeting.
06:44Moshpi Singh, thank you very much for joining us with all the details.
06:51Okay, that brings me to our top story today.
06:54And it is the Congress Working Committee which was held today ahead of the India Alliance meeting.
07:01At the meeting, the Congress demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
07:07But they went a step further with Rahul Gandhi claiming once again that Gyanesh Kumar was acting at the behest
07:14of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
07:17And they too should resign.
07:19Now, the BJP has hit back accusing the Congress of undermining constitutional institutions.
07:25With every passing day, the divide is growing over the Election Commission.
07:31Here's a report.
07:51The political temperature over the Election Commission is rising.
07:55After revelations that two Election Commissioners raised 14 objections over matters related to SIR,
08:03the Congress, which has already taken voter deletions to the streets, now wants to take the fight further.
08:12The CWC met on Tuesday and passed a resolution saying,
08:17Vote Chori is organised by CEC Gyanesh Kumar on behalf of Prime Minister and Home Minister
08:23and nothing short of their resignation will ensure the safety of the Constitution.
08:27The party sought immediate resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar,
08:31immediate suspension of SIR and immediate restoration of 13.3 crore voters deleted from electoral rolls.
08:40Sources tell India today that Rahul Gandhi told the CWC the 2024 elections were fixed.
08:47The Prime Minister is shaken after protests.
08:50And the Congress will work with the lies in its fight over SIR.
08:54Whenever the dictators lose the confidence of the people's common voters,
09:02they will find out extraordinary tools to continue in power.
09:10This exercise, entire SIR exercise and their thought done by Gyanesh Kumar
09:16cannot happen without the concurrence of Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah.
09:21The BJP has hit back.
09:48But the CWC meet is only the first act.
09:51On Wednesday, India block parties are set to meet to work out a joint strategy on the Election Commission and
09:59SIR Rao.
10:00Yet even before that meeting, there are signs of disorder within the opposition camp.
10:06SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav is skipping the meet, citing prior political engagements,
10:11while senior SP leaders are expected to attend in his place.
10:16Shif Sina, UBT and MNS will attend the meet virtually as they are holding their own demonstrations in Mumbai this
10:23week.
10:43The DMK has already distanced itself from the India block after Congress's post-poll alignment with Vijay's TVK in Tamil
10:52Nadu.
10:52So as Congress escalates its fight against the election commission,
10:57the bigger test may be whether the opposition can turn that anger into a united front.
11:03The CWC has drawn the battle lines.
11:07Wednesday's India block meet will show how united that front really is.
11:11Bureau Report, India Today.
11:21And joining me now is my newsmaker tonight.
11:24I'm joined by the Congress's senior MPCWC member and its legal eagle, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, senior advocate, Supreme Court,
11:33with us.
11:34Dr. Singhvi, at your CWC meeting held today, Congress demanding not just the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar,
11:41but also of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah reportedly alleging that there is a vote-chory nexus
11:48and the vote-chory was organized by the CEC on behalf of the BJP leadership.
11:53Now, when you make such a serious charge, you must have evidence.
11:57You're a lawyer. You know better that than anyone else.
12:00Please tell us what is the evidence you have of direct political interference
12:05that the CWC, no less, should call for Prime Minister and Home Minister's resignation.
12:11Okay. Now, can you allow me to answer your long question?
12:14Let me start by saying that it's very ironic that you have started not about the CEC,
12:19but about the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
12:23We have no expectation that the CEC or Mr. Pradhan would ever resign on his own
12:29or be made to resign by the Prime Minister.
12:31What to talk of the Prime Minister or the Home Minister?
12:34Therefore, we have no expectation, but this is a political demand.
12:37However, the reasoning given is this.
12:39Do you really think, Rajdeep, that the scale of this rigging, the scale of this organizing
12:48exclusions of EROs, hiding from your own colleague commissioners, giving instructions suddenly out
12:55of the blue, no CEC prior to this incumbent has had such wide-ranging SIRs in such short times,
13:03deleting 13 crore people, do you really think that this can happen without the political executive
13:10giving him full support? Do you really live in some cloud-cuckoo land that when we said
13:16that you will be answerable in the criminal law after you demit office, the government runs
13:20to give him a shield and a shelter of a legislation? Do you really think any constitutional position
13:27holder can be so brazen or egregious without getting full support, full instructions, full
13:33coordination? So ultimately, he is the puppet of his masters. He has made the election commission,
13:39his puppet is a different story. But he is clearly by influence…
13:43That's a political statement.
13:46That's a political statement and a political demand.
13:49I want to understand where… No, no. The CFC is a political body…
13:54Where is the direct… You know, people will say, is the Congress… No, no. Is the Congress
14:00tilting at windmills? My point is, y'all till the other day were calling for the chief election
14:05commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's designation. Now you are escalating into prime minister and
14:09home minister. Absolutely. I am asking you, is this therefore about now the election commissioner
14:14or is it about the political leadership of the BJP? No, no, no, no, no, Rajdeep. You are making
14:20it about only the BJP political leadership. You did not start your question by saying,
14:25why is Mr. Gyanesh Kumar not resigning? Why does he have no shame? Then I gave you five reasons why
14:31by inference we believe that he is a puppet of his political leadership. Then you say that we have
14:37changed. Have we stopped asking for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation? We know that Gyanesh Kumar will not
14:42resign. So where is the question of prime minister and home minister resigning? And do you think that
14:47the CWC is some kind of a private club or is it a political body, apex body? So we are
14:53a political
14:53body. We make political demands. What is wrong in that? The CWC has said three things very clearly.
14:59You have got a CEC who has done unprecedentedly things which no other CEC, many of them very compliant
15:13with the government has ever dared to do. Second, we gave examples of that. Third, we said that he could
15:21not have done it. I gave you the same reasons, you ignored my reasons. He could not possibly have done
15:26it
15:26without clearly the backing of the top two people in this country. Clearly, the protective shield of
15:33no action even after he retires, even after government's change, passed by legislation in
15:39post-haste pronto. Clearly, he has had a very close association from Gujarat, from the cooperation
15:47ministry with the Honorable Home Minister. These are all known facts. You can't say that I said nothing.
15:55It is you who are ignoring my five answers. On those five answers, are you denying the locus to
16:00the CWC, a political body, to make that fair inference and call for the resignation? And what's the point
16:07of calling for the resignation? We are entitled to make a demand, but do you think anybody is resigning?
16:11Forget the people like Prime Minister and Home Minister. Do you think the CEC is resigning? Do you think
16:15Mr. Pradhan resigned? Sir, sir, I come back to it. It appears what started off because there are a
16:25number of people who are raising serious legal questions about the way the Election Commission
16:30has been functioning. The newspaper report in the Indian Express also opened up the fact that there
16:36were serious questions of a divide on critical issues within the Election Commission. Now, the Election
16:43Commission says our decisions were passed unanimously. The Election Commission makes it very clear that
16:49while there may have been differences of opinion, none of these differences should be seen as being in
16:56the nature of any rebellion within the Election Commission. Therefore, I ask you again, has the
17:02Congress decided already that now that the constitutional, it's not about the constitutional issues anymore,
17:09now it's the political demand that you're making that you want to escalate this from
17:15Gyanesh Kumar to Amit Shah, as happened even with Dharmendra Pradhan. Your initial demand was
17:23Dharmendra Pradhan, then your demand during Parliament session was Amit Shah Istifa though.
17:27I think your repetitive, unifocal questions, Rajdeep, are displaying a very fertile and febrile imagination
17:39that we have excluded the CEC. We are not the Gymkhana Club. We are a political party. If a political
17:48party consistently for the last one week asks for the resignation of CEC, makes it clear he'll not resign,
17:55and then in a CWC meeting calls for the resignation of the two chief people in this country,
18:00you think that can't be done without, are you a court of law? Do we have to come and argue
18:04and
18:04cross-examine somebody and say that, look, we have this document, a video which says that in a dark,
18:10smoke-filled room, I recorded the Prime Minister telling the Home Minister who in turn told the
18:15CEC to do this. Is that the way politics work? What is the single comma full stop you can fault
18:21us
18:21for saying what we are saying? And do you really think that any chief election commissioner
18:26will be so egregious, brazen? So really this is yours, you have suddenly deflected the debate away
18:33from Mr. Gyanesh Kumar, whereas we are including Mr. Gyanesh Kumar and the other two. And, and let me tell
18:40you that the answer which came from the EC, if you want to ask me in legal terms, there is
18:47a saying
18:48there that if you answer partially or not at all or avoid a question asked, then it is a deemed
18:54admission. Everything which the express said, everything which I said in my press conference
19:00was admitted in the press release by the election commission and in the press conference of Mr.
19:07Samitpatra. Just give me 30 seconds, only 30 seconds. Four questions we asked. Were the EROs
19:14excluded as written? And the writing was unauthorized, illegal. Was form 6 changed de facto?
19:22Was 16 lakh appeals filed? Now, none of those questions had any specific answer either in the
19:28press statement of the EC, nor in Mr. Samitpatra. Now, if I ask you ABC, and you give a blanket
19:35general answer from the mountaintop, as if you are a feudal lord speaking of general mantras,
19:41it means an admission of these four points. So on the contrary, your reply confirmed whatever
19:46I said. That's the clear truth. Not a single nitty gritty answer, not a factual answer.
19:54But you see, Dr. Singhvi, you know the law better than anyone else. If you want to remove
20:03a chief election commissioner, assume that Gyanesh Kumar is not going to resign, there
20:07is no sign of that, is impeachment. A first notice was filed in the Rajya Sabha on March
20:1212th, signed by 63 MPs, above the 50 required. Second notice in the Lok Sabha, March 12th,
20:19signed by 130 MPs, above the 100 required. Another notice on February 24th, signed by 73 MPs
20:26in the Rajya Sabha, above the 50 required. Gyanesh Kumar has gone nowhere. In fact, Parliament has
20:32refused to, the chair in both houses have not even accepted these notices. I therefore want
20:38to understand. I come back to it. Are you tilting against a brick wall? Let's not call
20:43it a windmill. Are you tilting against a brick wall? How much further can you take this?
20:48The question is, how much further can your party? This is a political question now. How
20:52much further can your party take it? First and foremost, there is a vast difference
20:57between a windmill and a brick wall. Second, yes, we are tilting at brick walls. Who is that
21:02brick wall? The brick wall is one of obstinacy and blindfoldedness by the government
21:08of the day. Who has the majority? The three examples you gave validated my point, actually.
21:14You were actually unknowingly validating my point. We filed in a constitutional democracy,
21:19can I come, catch you by the throat, and yank Mr. Gyanesh Kumar out of his seat? I filed impeachment
21:26motions. A new one is coming shortly, I can say with a certain amount of safety, although the
21:31India Alliance will take a view on that. I can't commit to that. Now, there is stonewalling.
21:36There is neither a rejection nor an admission. Who does this? The majority of the day. Now,
21:42if in a democracy, you redefine democracy to mean that a majority of electoral votes validates
21:50every shamelessness you do, then you are right. You can say, I will not look to hell with your
21:55impeachment motion. To hell with your new impeachment motion also for that reason. These are new facts in
22:00the new impeachment motion yet to come. So what do I do? Should I take to the streets with a
22:04gun?
22:05No. Impeachment will go hand in hand with a complete concerted campaign by the India Alliance. Do you
22:11know that, Rajdeep, in three days to five days, we had the statistic today in the CWC, 900 events took
22:18place at district levels. What else is democracy? Democracy and the brick wall which you are talking
22:24about on the other side, the new definition of democracy. We can do nothing but break our heads
22:29and stand bravely against the brick wall, I concede. That doesn't show the brick wall in very good light.
22:34It shows us in good light.
22:38How would you reply though, in conclusion, to those who will say the Congress is blaming the
22:43election commission? Rahul Gandhi reportedly said there is EVM manipulation, says now that
22:49the electoral rolls are contaminated, but at no stage the Congress will introspect and blame itself
22:55for its losses. The Congress doesn't want to introspect. You are looking outwards, but you are not willing to look
23:01inwards.
23:02This is again BJP's whataboutery which you are articulating as a devil's advocate.
23:07Nothing but that. Rahul Gandhi has gone hoarse, shouting from the rooftops for the last four years.
23:14He gave you examples of Mahadevpura in Karnataka. He gave you examples of Maharashtra. He gave you examples of
23:21Haryana. He gave you example of Bihar. He sat with statistical charts. You don't get any response.
23:28You don't get machine readable voter lists. You tell me one thing. If you were to ask for something
23:33that please notify the deletions in public domain. Please give us a readable printout of a voters list.
23:42Where there are issues, have an independent inquiry. Are these rocket science questions? Are they very too
23:47much to ask for a democracy? Nothing happens. Now Rahul Gandhi, today a lot of people are saying,
23:53has been proved right. A man who can do this, which has come out only partially the tip of the
23:58iceberg
23:58in the file notings disclosed by the Indian Express, could have done much more. The very fact,
24:04Rajdeep, that 13 crore voters in less than a year have vanished from the list. Take one example given by
24:10the EC, which perhaps may have escaped a lot of people, including those who read the EC. Draft roles,
24:14draft roles. Sir, sir, sir, sir, sir, sir, sir, we must, sir, we must clarify this 13 crore have
24:19in the draft roles. All of them now can go and appeal. This is not the final role.
24:25Sir, allow me, allow me. Let me answer. Let me answer. 13 crores is 13 crores.
24:32And three crores more are going to be added within a few months. It'll be 16 crores.
24:36The so-called appeals you talk about are less than 0.05% or 0.5%. What are you talking
24:43about?
24:44You know the figures from West Bengal? Is that an appeal? Okay. So you will reverse
24:4925 lakhs out of 16 crores. Will Rajdeep start clapping? Will I start clapping? Now, the point of
24:56the matter is that why is it never before in 50 years, etc., 80 years, 70 years that you had
25:02such a
25:03massive exclusion? And why is it that you're not giving a single statistical answer to the figures
25:08and facts quoted by Rahul Gandhi again and again? Today, people are coming around to this view.
25:13So, of course, you see, there's no point fighting elections all the time. And then coming back
25:18saying that you are actually under your nose having vote jury. So, therefore, this is the heart of democracy.
25:24It's part of the basic structure. Can I?
25:29Can I ask you, therefore, in conclusion, did anyone in your CWC raise the question that if this continues,
25:36we will boycott elections? Was there even one voice? Because if you have no faith in the election commission
25:42and the election, chief election commissioner, then why even participate in an election which
25:46you believe is prima facie, an election that has been manipulated or supported?
25:52What's the voice there? I'm just asking you that.
25:55First of all, even if this was discussed or not discussed, you're never going to get it out of me
25:59as to what was discussed in the CWC, number one. Number two, it has been discussed in the public
26:04domain earlier. It is above my pay grade and any average congressman's pay grade to decide this.
26:10It has to be a collective decision of a lot of parties. I'm not saying it's been taken. I'm not
26:16saying that India Alliance will agree. But this is one of the things discussed in the public domain.
26:21It's as simple as that. But real question you're not asking, Rajdeep. If you, have you ever in 80
26:25years come to a stage on a television show, 80 years without television, with television and with
26:30today's television, have you ever come to even a stage of asking the question that parties might
26:35consider boycotting it? The real question you should be asking is that if parties have reached the stage
26:40of even thinking of this option, are we not in an abysmal definition of new India headed by Mr.
26:47Gyanesh Kumar, who appears to have no shame to ever resign? The very fact that this is being debated,
26:52not that it will be done. That is the real question. People, there have been BJP governments,
27:00there have been Vajpayee governments, there have been VPC governments. Have you ever thought of boycotting
27:04elections ever? You haven't had exemplary CECs all the time. Has anybody come near to the heights
27:12attained by Mr. Gyanesh Kumar? You ask his colleagues in the bureaucracy, you ask his predecessor CECs,
27:18you ask the election commissioners, and now you have it on file as to what his colleagues think of him.
27:25It stares you in the face. So net net, so net net what you're saying, the Congress working committee's
27:33resolutions reflect their determination to push for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, because you believe he's unfit to
27:40hold the office. You believe he's not a neutral umpire. You will not go as far as suggesting that you
27:46will
27:46consider boycotting the election. But the very fact that I've raised this question, in your view, suggests where we've come
27:52in a
27:52our democracy. But I will continue to, of course, raise the question whether the Congress party itself
27:58is also going to look inwards and only outwards, because otherwise, it almost seems as if every time
28:03now an election is lost, the election will be delegitimized by claiming any election under Gyanesh
28:10Kumar's leadership is not a legitimate election. Am I correct? In conclusion, any election under Gyanesh
28:16Kumar's leadership, irrespective of all the clarifications he and the election commission have given,
28:22will not be seen as legitimate by the Congress party. It will be seen as a vote-tory election.
28:27That is a distortion of the Congress stand. It is also trivialization of a very serious set of
28:33actions which undermine democracy. Certainly, there are cases whereby arrangement,
28:39BJP may want us to win. BJP may have no stake in it. Certainly, every election is not necessarily
28:46the way you say it is. But certainly, every action a man like Mr. Gyanesh Kumar takes is suspect.
28:52And certainly, our raising it does not mean any blanket verdict. It means that the man must go.
28:56And any normal person by now would have gone three times over. And any normal political dispensation
29:02would have sacked, just like the education minister, not waiting for the water to go above your heads.
29:12Let me leave it there. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, at his competitive best on the Gyanesh Kumar question,
29:22I appreciate you joining me. Thank you so much. Thank you.
29:28Okay, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi's stiff defense of the CWC stand brings us to our big questions of the day.
29:37Has the CEC become an embarrassment for the Modi government? Will the Congress's CEC Hatao campaign
29:43really work on the ground? Is there merit in the Congress's charges against the CEC?
29:47Joining me now on our face-off, Salman Sos of the Congress, and Dr. Ajay Alok, national spokesperson
29:54of the BJP. To you, Ajay Alok first, Abhishek Manu Singhvi very clear, CEC must go. And he claims the
30:01CEC
30:02is merely a puppet in the hands of the BJP leadership. Particularly, he mentions Home Minister
30:09and the Prime Minister. Your response, how do you see the Congress's resolution today on Hatao Gyanesh Kumar?
30:20Well, Razdeep, I would like to say that Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, he happens to be a very eminent
30:26and a good lawyer. But an eminent and a good lawyer doesn't change his statements.
30:32Like I was going through his statement, he claimed in 2018 that more than 50 lakh voters
30:37are duplicate fraud across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and they should be deleted.
30:42An election commission must take an exercise. It was a press conference conducted at AICC.
30:49Now, today I am saying that he is protesting SR deletion and aberration and saying that CEC
30:56Gyanesh Kumar is a puppet. So I don't know which Abhishek Manu Singhvi was correct then and now.
31:01And secondly, as far as keeping CEC as a puppet, no one knows better than the Congress. This is for
31:09sure. No one knows better than the Congress because we have seen the videos of Mr. TN session,
31:15how he used to say that Rajiv Gandhi used to tell us, go and finalize the date of the elections.
31:20We have seen in 1991, post-Rajiv Gandhi's death, that the whole general election was postponed for
31:27one month. The election was scheduled to happen on 20th, 22nd, 24th, if I am not mistaken. And it
31:33was taken up to June second week, almost around 15 June, so that Congress could gain sympathy.
31:39We cannot see much more big puppet than Naveen Chawla, who was accused by his own chief election
31:45commissioner, who wrote a written letter to the president that he works for the Congress,
31:48he's not fit to be in the post. But still, he was not even made chief election commissioner.
31:53We cannot even forget M.S. Gill, who after being election commissioner, he was given a post-proved
31:59post of ministerial post in the one moment in cabinet. So how to keep chief election commissioner
32:05as a puppet? This story is well known by the Congress, played by the Congress, and that's what
32:11they think that BGP is also doing. Sorry, sir, we are not in the same boat.
32:14We are not running the country like you did.
32:17But Dr. Ali Alok, isn't that whataboutry? Whataboutry? You're giving the names of chief
32:22election commissioners, many of whom are not alive to defend themselves. The question is
32:26Gyanesh Kumar ji. The question is the changes that have been sought to be brought in through the
32:32SIR exercise, many of which his own colleagues have called illegal and unauthorized. Focus on the
32:37individual. The lack of confidence and credibility of Gyanesh Kumar, does that not worry you? Should
32:43that not worry all of us, irrespective of our political inclinations? If the chief election
32:48commissioner finds himself in a situation where on a daily basis, he's being questioned by the
32:54opposition, what does that say about the health of our democracy?
33:00A public prosecutor must not leave the court because he's not being lied by the criminals. Law
33:07shouldn't be afraid if criminals are saying that this law is very tenacious, this law is very
33:13cruel and anything. That doesn't mean that a law shouldn't exist. Those who are blaming the chief
33:19election commissioner, where they are themselves, I would straight away like to ask where they are
33:24themselves. And who are you to question the credibility of the chief election commissioner,
33:30Gyanesh Kumar, when the whole matter of SIR is in front of the Supreme Court? Don't you think that
33:35you are questioning the credibility of honorable Supreme Court here? Because everything is under the
33:39scrutiny of Supreme Court. I really wonder why Mr. Abhishek Manu Sangweed fails to understand this,
33:44where he himself went in front of the Supreme Court and argued for the SIR.
33:48Sir, while the Supreme Court is hearing these matters, lacks of people have gone in appeal.
33:54Lacks of people have gone in appeal, even as the Supreme Court is hearing the matter. Many of them
33:58were disenfranchised ahead of the West Bengal elections. Subsequently, 90% of them who have been,
34:05whose hearings have taken place so far have been found to be legitimate citizens.
34:09Does that not lead to questions being asked? Is the Congress, as the principal opposition party,
34:13not entitled to ask those questions? Now, what figures Rajdeep, you are quoting,
34:20is till when the 91,000 hearings took place, and out of that 91,000 hearings, 83,000 got a
34:26nod,
34:27that they will be re-franchised again. But till now, 1,50,000 hearings has taken place,
34:32and only 1,04,000 have been allowed, 46,000 have not been allowed. This is the current figure of
34:37yesterday.
34:38So update your facts. Still now, still now, more than 35 lakhs pending. So that 91% does not mean
34:47that,
34:48yes, everything was done wrongly. Secondly, if the election commission is saying 13 crores voters were
34:53deleted, out of that 13 crores, almost 3 crores are dead. Why do you want their names to be on
34:59the
34:59electoral list? Out of that 7.93 crores, approximately 8 crores have shifted. Why do you want their names on
35:06the list? 1.7 crores names are not known where they have gone? In spite of all the effort by
35:14the
35:14local administration, they couldn't trace why you want those names to be there on the list.
35:19This is the pertinent question. This kind of democracy you want?
35:25Let me take your pertinent question, Dr. Alok, let me take your pertinent question to Salman
35:36Sos. You see, Salman Sos, these figures that are doing the round, 13 crores as of now are reportedly
35:42have not been put on the draft rolls, 13 crore voters. And there are enough indications,
35:49a number of them are dead or have shifted location. This is a clean-up exercise is what
35:53the election commission says. Y'all have now said not clean up, it's vote chori. That's a very serious
35:59charge. Today, you've gone to a step further saying vote chori under the guidance of prime minister
36:04and the home minister. When the Congress is making such charges, should you now be a little
36:11circumspect? Because tomorrow, if it turns out out of these 13 crores, majority of them either were
36:16dead or have shifted location. Should you not wait till the final rolls before saying that this entire
36:21exercise is fraudulent? Rajdeep, the spokesperson of the election commission,
36:28or is it the BJP? I don't really know whether he's the spokesperson of the EC or the BJP, but
36:35he's
36:35made certain claims. So let me just address them head on. First of all, he said something to the
36:41effect that everything is happening under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. Did the Supreme Court know
36:47that form 6 had been illegally altered? Illegally, and these words are of two election commissioners
36:57out of three. Did the Supreme Court know at that time? Was the Supreme Court told? No, they were not
37:05told. Two, the spokesperson of the election commission said that if the public prosecutor,
37:15if the criminals say the public prosecutor should be removed, why should he be removed?
37:21In this case, I think his analogy is absolutely wrong because I don't think he understands what
37:26it means. This is not, uh, this is, this is an umpire. That means you are the criminal of democracy.
37:32This is a referee. You are a criminal of democracy. I listened to you very, I listened to you very
37:37patiently. Now you listen to me.
37:39Sir, Ajay Alok, Ajay Alok, your voice now, let him pick up the commission.
37:43Since you are calling me spokesperson of election commission, that shows how much
37:48derogatory you think about the democracy of this country.
37:50You see, when BJP people are caught, then they start to the track.
37:54Okay, sir. Ajay Alok, Ajay Alok, your complaint, your objection has been registered.
37:59Your objection has been registered. Mic down. Go ahead, Salman Sos.
38:02I would suggest you call him spokesperson of the BJP. Let's be, you know, if you attack the,
38:08if you attack the election, the BJP through the election commission, they will also oppose.
38:13Please go ahead, Salman Sos. I'm sorry. Raji, please give me my time. As far as I'm concerned,
38:18there is no difference between the BJP and the election commission of India that we have today.
38:23I'm saying it on national television, that the election commission of India has become a tool
38:27of the BJP and the RSS. Now, let me talk about, you know,
38:31I was trying to explain to him because his analogy was wrong, that we are talking about a referee.
38:37Now, when the principal opposition party and all opposition parties had lost trust in the
38:44chief election commissioner, any decent person would resign. And by the way, he said,
38:50what right do we have? Half the country voted for us. Half the country voted for us.
38:57We have every right to represent them. Now, let me also talk about the numbers because he,
39:03he talked about, shouldn't we, shouldn't we remove dead people from the electoral rolls? Of course we
39:09should. Now, Raji, you know Maharashtra very well. Let me, let me remind people about Maharashtra.
39:17Between the Lok Sabay election of 2024 to the assembly election of 2024, 40.5 lakh voters were
39:24added within four and a half months to the electoral rolls. One and a half years later now,
39:31two crore voters have been removed. 75 lakh of them roughly have been removed because they moved.
39:3975 lakh voters they cannot find. And 40 lakh voters are dead. And there are about 10 lakh or 20
39:46lakh other
39:47voters they cannot find. Please tell me, Rajdeep, how is this possible? What kind of joke do these
39:55things, do these people think that, uh, playing with the people of this country? Do they think we are
39:59stupid? Does the election commission think we are stupid? Does the RSS and the BJP, do they think we're
40:05stupid? Do they think that the people of this country are stupid? They are making the weakest
40:12among us. They're making them stand in queues and saying, you, you prove that you're Indian.
40:17You prove that you're a voter. That is not, that is not how things were in India. We had an
40:24inclusive
40:24system. That was the mandate of the election commission of India. 13.5 crore, 13.3 crore voters?
40:31Is that a joke? That is the population of Bangladesh almost.
40:37They have to be held accountable. The chief election commissioner, I am saying, I am saying
40:41on national television today to Mr. Kanesh Kumar, please, sir, have some decency. You have to resign.
40:48We don't trust you. The opposition does not trust you. How can you stay in your position?
40:53And by the way, he's not obviously doing it on his own. This is the prime minister and the
41:00government. They have to be held accountable.
41:05Okay. I've heard you now. I've heard you. I gave you your time. Ajay Alok, let me give you a
41:09final
41:09word because the word trust deficit is being used. Democracy is built on trust, sir. There should be
41:15trust between constitutional function. There should be trust between the people and the, and the election
41:20commission that trust somewhere has gone. It appears. Do you concede that Gyanesh Kumar in particular, given
41:29some of the statements that his own election commissioners made about him on notes about actions
41:34being taken that were illegal and unauthorized, that Gyanesh Kumar needs to do much more. And if that
41:40involves stepping aside till there is a full inquiry, possibly would you, would you support that or not?
41:47Do you concede that there is this trust deficit or do you believe it's only the Congress party
41:52which is raising it?
41:56Well, Rajiv, it's very clear, right? From 2016 onward,
42:01the whole opposition, my, we shouldn't call whole opposition, the Congress party never had trust in
42:07the system. They always kept on believing anti-incumbency. That's what they believed in
42:142019 when they started Raphael. Raphael, ham apne aap aajayenge. Modi ko log dande se
42:18pmarenge hain, after Nordbandi and GST, ham apne aap aajayenge. The similar thing they thought about
42:2424, ham apne aap aajayenge. The time has gone. Your trust deficiency doesn't mean that the nation has lost
42:32trust. The repeated, the way the nation is progressing, that shows the nation has trust.
42:37And what my friend was saying, do you think we are fools? Do you think we are fools? Do you
42:42think we
42:43are fools? Brother, I am no one to think you are a fool. You are under the captaincy of Rahul
42:48Gandhi.
42:49That is more than enough. Why will she, we will think that you are fool? We under the captaincy and
42:54leadership of the great Rahul Gandhi. I don't call you fool. I call you super intelligent. Durlab,
42:59praniya. Durlab, rare to find. I mean, come on. This is 1.4, 1.5 billion people this country is
43:09off. You know what? And right now we are having the trust of 70 percent people of India. And in
43:13the whole history of Congress Party, we have never been able to get more than 48 percent. And that too
43:18in 1957, when the whole electoral composition was only 21 crores. Today we are 97 crore electorate.
43:25And we are securing almost 39 percent of the mandate. Where are you? Sir, the fact...
43:29I will, I will, I will. Can I respond? Sir, sir, I will give... Okay, I've heard you, Ajay. Let
43:37me give...
43:38Salman Sos, you see, it's a point I made to Abhishek Manu Singh. You're blaming everyone else.
43:43The fact is, over a period of 12 years, the BJP has won more election than they've lost. It's not
43:48as
43:48if they haven't lost election. They've lost in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh 2018.
43:54At the end of the day, voters... Are you saying all these elections, all the polls that show Mr.
44:00Modi as the number one leader, all of them have been falsified. All of them are part of this vote
44:05chori. Will you ever look inwards a quick response?
44:09Rajip, I think you're under some false impression that we've not been looking inwards. In fact,
44:13our... I think just recently, there was a major newspaper report. Maybe you should read it in
44:20the Hindu, actually, which is a very reputable newspaper, talks about all the organizational
44:24changes that are happening in the Congress Party. Yesterday, yesterday, we had 800 to 900 events
44:30in the country. 800 to 900 events in the country opposing what is happening, because we are going
44:37to resist what the RSS and the BJP are doing to our democracy. So I urge you, Rajdeep, that you
44:43should do a
44:43little bit more. I know you're busy with television here, but you should be on the ground just like
44:48our workers are on the ground right now, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from the west to the east.
44:53So let me just say one thing. You know, Ajay ji was saying something about our leader Rahul Gandhi.
45:00Let me just say this. Our leader Rahul Gandhi did not preside over a government that has basically
45:09delivered zero percent real wage growth in this country for the last 12 years. Zero percent.
45:16Our leader Rahul Gandhi did not preside over a stock market that in the last two years since the
45:24prime minister said that everybody should be buying stocks has returned zero percent. Zero percent for
45:29the investors in this country. So I urge you people to introspect because this is the same prime minister
45:38who, when he contested in Varanasi in 2024, almost lost his seat.
45:43His victory merchant came down from five lakh votes to one lakh 50,000 votes. And some people say that
45:50he
45:50was trailing in that seat. Okay, so we don't need any gyan from you, friends of Mr. Gyanesh Kumar.
45:57We don't need any gyan from you. The people of the country want accountability, accountability.
46:02I've heard both sides. I've given you, I've given both sides, I've given both sides equal time on this face
46:09-off.
46:09I thank Ajay Alok and Salman Sos for powerfully defending your respective sides. I appreciate you for your time. Thank
46:18you very much.
46:21Okay, we've heard all the politicians, but what's the situation on the ground?
46:25Now, one area which Rahul Gandhi has gone and visited to make his claim that voters are being disenfranchised is
46:34in the national capital, where over 47 lakh people, remember, across Delhi have been removed from the voter list.
46:48Here is a ground report by Rahul Gautam from Bela Ghat, a day after Rahul Gandhi met residents there.
46:57Take a look at what our Rahul, Rahul Gautam, found on the ground.
47:05727 names from a list of 728 residents of Bela Estate Juggi Cluster on the banks of the Yamuna struck
47:12off in SIR.
47:15The deletions have triggered a political row with leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi visiting the residents and alleging vote-chori.
47:42When India today visited the Bela Ghat, there were no pukka houses at the spot.
47:46People are living in shanties under a bridge with no proper electricity or water supply.
47:52The residents showed their voter IDs and previous electoral rolls.
47:57My son is here. I have my 1998-1998-1998.
48:02I live here. I live here.
48:05As long as I live here, I used to live here.
48:06I used to live here before it was the壁 of the people who were thrown onto the border.
48:071961-1961-1961 list is the first big-beauter list.
48:11In the previous year, it was now, the 65 years.
48:13After that, we have been 1975.
48:17We have also been the big-beauter list of the government who has been making it.
48:21The government has asked the list of the government and the government has asked the list.
48:22The government has asked the audience.
48:42The local BLO told India today that when she was assigned the area, she visited the addresses
48:48mentioned in the previous electoral rolls, but found no houses at the location.
48:52The BLO alleged that the shanties were erected to get the names registered.
48:58In Bela State, Rahul Gandhi is claiming vote-chawari, but at the same time, ECI is maintaining
49:04that names were deleted after following all the norms and regulations.
49:09Clearly, there are many layers to Bela State vote-chawari claims, and truth is just not
49:15plain.
49:16With Vinod Kumar, this is Raul Gautam reporting for India Today.
49:19Welcome back.
49:20You are with the news today.
49:21Let's turn to tonight's Get Real India story, which comes from Maharashtra, where one teacher
49:26in rural Maharashtra, for him, the daily commute is not just a journey.
49:31It's a commitment.
49:33Listen to this carefully.
49:34A 2.5-kilometer trek through a forest every morning to teach just one student.
49:42Let me repeat that.
49:46That's the story of 55-year-old Jeevan Mithari, who's taught here for 13 years and says whether
49:54there is one child or a hundred, a teacher's duty is a teacher's duty.
50:00Take a look at our special story.
50:13Every morning, Jeevan Mithari sets out on a scooter from Kale in Kualapur to reach Dhangarwara village.
50:31The last 2.5 kilometers are covered on foot through a forest.
50:38He is the only teacher at the Zillaparishit primary school in the village.
50:43And the school has only one student, Swara Bodke.
51:03The 55-year-old teacher has been working here for the last 13 years.
51:32Mithari doesn't mind a rough ride to his workplace.
51:35For him, teaching is a duty he has to fulfill.
51:48Swara dreams of becoming a doctor.
52:21When Mithari started his taint in Dhangarwara school, he was nervous.
52:25The forest has leopards and bisons.
52:28He was warned.
52:46If the school were to close, Swara would have had to go to school 11 kilometers away in Dhundwade village.
52:52Jeevan Mithari has three years of service left.
52:55His lonely job, but a job that needs to be done.
52:58Because every single student matters.
53:01With Deepak Suryavanshi, Bureau Report, India Today.
53:07Okay, let's turn to the good news story of the day.
53:10And it comes once again from the Asian Games where India finally got an athletics goal.
53:15And it was the women once again taking forward the rich legacy of Indian women in the Asian Games.
53:21Dating back to PT Usha, today it was the turn for the 4x400 meters women relay team.
53:27Kiran Pahal, M.R. Poovamma, Prachi and Vitya Ramaraj clocked 3 minutes 29.6 seconds to win the gold ahead
53:36of Bahrain and China.
53:38With this win, India clinched its 7th Asian gold in history at this event.
53:44Maintained a 44-year streak of meddling in every edition of this event since 1982.
53:50Since the days of Usha, Walsamma and Shiny Abraham.
53:56So, a moment for India to celebrate at the Asian Games.
54:00A good news of the day.
54:07Okay, that's about all that we could pack in on the show today.
54:10Thanks very much for watching.
54:12You stay well, stay safe.
54:13Good night.
54:14Shubhraat, Pee Jai Hind.
54:15Namaskar.