KAITHAL: Communist Party of India (Marxist), Haryana State Secretary Prem Chand in a press release here today stated that the disclosure by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi of 2.5 million fake votes polled in the Haryana Assembly elections last year confirms what the CPI(M) had claimed after the election results a year ago. It had then started that this was not a government formed by the mandate of the people.
This revelation has once again raised questions about the fairness of the democratic electoral system. The question has been raised based on concrete evidence. It is condemnable that the Election Commission's statement in this regard has been aimed at suppressing the matter rather than investigating and rectifying it. This reeks of collusion between the Election Commission and the BJP. In any case, the public sentiment during this election was strongly against the BJP. In light of public anger against the BJP, the BJP itself removed Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He was replaced by Nayab Singh Saini. Exit polls also predicted a BJP defeat. The margin of victory was less than one percent. The BJP victory was unexpected. The Chief Minister's statement before the announcement of the election results, claiming that arrangements had been made to win the election, further deepened public suspicion.
The CPI(M) stated that gaining power through vote theft in a democratic system is a grave betrayal of the people. If this trend is not stopped, the democratic structure of the country will collapse. The Election Commission is a constitutionally impartial institution that should discharge its responsibilities by conducting impartial investigations. In a situation where the Election Commission's credibility has been eroded, the Supreme Court of India should take suo motu cognizance of the matter and initiate judicial action. If this is not done, people will be forced to take to the streets in defence of democracy.