New Delhi: A group of eminent citizens comprising judges, retired civil servants and diplomats, and retired armed forces officers have accused the Congress and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of attempting to tarnish institutions like the Election Commission after targeting the judiciary and armed forces, among others.
A group of 272 eminent citizens consisting of 16 judges, 123 retired civil servants (including 14 ambassadors), 133 retired armed forces officers have written the open letter.
“After their attempts to tarnish the Indian armed forces by questioning their valour and accomplishments, and the judiciary by questioning its fairness, Parliament and its constitutional functionaries, now it is the turn of the Election Commission of India to face systematic and conspiratorial attacks on its integrity and reputation,” reads the open letter to Rahul Gandhi.
The letter states that the accusations are an attempt to drape political frustration in the garb of institutional crisis.
Several top Congress leaders have attributed the INDIA bloc’s crushing defeat in the Bihar assembly elections to a “collusion” between the Election Commission and the ruling NDA, leading to an uneven playing field.
The letter to Rahul Gandhi urges the civil society and the citizens of India to stand firmly with the Election Commission, “not out of flattery, but out of conviction”.
“Society should demand that political actors stop undermining this vital institution with baseless allegations and theatrical denunciations. Instead, they should offer the public serious policy alternatives, meaningful reform ideas, and a national vision rooted in reality”, the letter states.
The list includes many former ambassadors such as Lakshmi Puri, wife of Union Minister Hardeep Puri, Gauri Shankar Gupta, Deepak Vohra, former Delhi High Court judge S.N. Dhingra, former Chief Justice of Karnataka Shubro Kamal Mukherjee, former R&AW chief Sanjeev Tripathi (now with the BJP), former director of NIA Yogesh Chander Modi, among others.
The letter states that Rahul Gandhi had repeatedly attacked the Election Commission, declaring that he has open and shut proof that EC is involved in vote theft.
The letter goes on to say that Rahul Gandhi made use of “unbelievably uncouth rhetoric” when he said “that what he had found is an atom bomb and when it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide. He has also issued threats that whoever in the Election Commission is involved in this exercise, right from top to bottom, he will not spare them.”
They further argue that Rahul Gandhi has claimed that ECI is indulging in treason. “He has gone on record to threaten that if CEC/EC are retired, he will hound them. Yet, despite such scathing accusations, there has been no formal complaint filed by him, along with the prescribed sworn affidavit, to escape his accountability for levelling unsubstantiated allegations and threatening public servants in performance of their duty,” they add.
Ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, the Congress had launched a nearly two-week-long ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, led by Gandhi, covering 50 assembly constituencies across 23 districts to mobilise public support ahead of the polls.
The letter claims that many senior Congress leaders and other political parties, “Leftist” NGOs and ideologically opinionated scholars have joined in with similar rhetoric against SIR, even declaring that the commission has descended into complete “shamelessness” by acting like the “B-team of the BJP”.
Such fiery rhetoric, they say, may be emotionally powerful but it collapses under scrutiny, because the ECI has publicly shared its SIR methodology, overseen verification by court-sanctioned means, removed ineligible names in a compliant manner, and added new eligible voters.
The open letter further points out that “this pattern of behaviour” reflects what might be called “impotent rage… deep anger born of repeated electoral failure and frustration, without a concrete plan to reconnect with the people”.
They further claim that when political leaders lose touch with the aspirations of ordinary citizens, they “lash out” at institutions instead of rebuilding their credibility.
“Theatrics replace analysis. Public spectacle takes the place of public service. The irony is stark: When electoral outcomes are favourable in certain States where opposition-driven political parties form governments, criticism of the Election Commission disappears. When they are unfavourable in certain States, the Commission becomes the villain in every narrative,” they add.
The selective outrage, they say, exposes opportunism and not conviction. “It is a convenient deflection: To give the impression that loss is not a result of strategy, but conspiracy. India’s democracy rests on institutions built by our founding generation, who engaged in principled and disciplined politics, even under the most serious differences. They defended the sanctity of democratic structures, even when they had every reason to question them. They sought to strengthen, not to undermine, the constitutional bedrock,” the letter adds.
The open letter to Rahul Gandhi also touches upon the issue of who should find a place in India’s electorate. Fake or bogus voters, non-citizens, and individuals who do not have a legitimate stake in India’s future must have no place in deciding its government—allowing them to influence elections is a grave threat to the sovereignty and stability of the nation. Across the world, democracies treat illegal immigration firmly, it adds.
The letter goes on to state that the United States rigorously detains and deports unauthorised entrants and bars them from voting while the United Kingdom places permanent restrictions on civic rights for irregular residents.
“Australia enforces strict offshore detention to control who can originate claims. Japan and South Korea keep tight screening and rapid deportation processes. Even in Europe, countries like Germany and France have tightened enforcement; they insist citizenship matters when safeguarding democratic institutions. If other nations guard the electoral integrity of their states so resolutely, India must be equally proactive. The sanctity of our electoral rolls is not a partisan issue—it is a national imperative,” it said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Seven reasons why Rahul Gandhi’s voter fraud claim must be taken with a pinch of salt
Erm!!!!! Seriously????