New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of carrying out the “first vote theft” of the country by “denying” a chance to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to become the Prime Minister following India’s independence.
This came after the INDIA bloc held a “public impeachment” event against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities.
Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra referred to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s speech at the “public impeachment” event, saying: “I would like to tell him that there is indeed some truth to the issue of vote theft; vote theft did take place…If the first vote theft in India ever happened anywhere, it was done by the first member of the Gandhi family, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.”
“Senior Congress leaders voted for Sardar Patel to become Prime Minister, but those votes were effectively taken away, allowing Nehru to become Prime Minister. Therefore, Sardar Patel was deprived of his rightful position and humiliated,” he alleged, calling Nehru as an “unelected Prime Minister”.
Claiming that a “mock Parliament” means a “mockery” of the House, Patra remarked: “Sleeping in the actual Parliament, winking, remaining absent, creating a ruckus, and stalling the real Parliament without letting work happen, this has been the primary function of the Congress and the so-called INDIA bloc.”
He also questioned Kharge’s claim that the votes of 130 million voters had been stolen.
“Had the votes of 130 million people actually been deleted, there would have been widespread protests across the country,” the BJP spokesperson said while pointing out that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process is still underway and has not yet been completed.
“Therefore, the absence of names from the final voter lists in various states does not mean those votes have been stolen,” he said, while questioning whether illegal infiltrators should be allowed to become voters in India.
Asserting that the SIR process is transparent, Patra said that anyone who believes their name has not been included in the electoral roll can submit Form 6.
Responding to Kharge’s allegation that Form 6 had been modified, Patra said no changes had been made to the form itself and that only a declaration had been attached. Acknowledging the Congress chief as a senior leader, he claimed that Kharge is being “misinformed” on the issue.
He also cited a Supreme Court judgment dated May 27, 2026, stating that the court had clearly stated that Form 6 had not been amended and that only a declaration had been added alongside it.
Patra also rejected Kharge’s allegations against Gyanesh Kumar that the CEC had sidelined the other two Election Commissioners in deciding on the SIR exercise.
“You may repeat a lie a hundred times, but it does not become the truth. The Chief Election Commissioner and the other two Election Commissioners sat together and clearly stated, through both photographs and public statements, that the decision on SIR was unanimous,” the BJP leader said.
Further, Sambit Patra clarified that the BJP did not introduce a new law that guarantees immunity to the CEC, as alleged by the INDIA bloc.
“The BJP did not introduce any law that did not already exist. Immunity and protection for the President and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) are already enshrined in the Constitution. However, the specific procedure was not explicitly defined,” he said.
Referring to an August 2023 order of a special court in Telangana that ordered the filing of an FIR against the Chief Election Commissioner, Patra said: “The High Court immediately quashed the order, stating that this was not the correct procedure. But then, it became evident that due to political pressure, anyone could file a case or an FIR against individuals holding high constitutional offices, who are protected by the Constitution, without any regard for the law. Therefore, a procedure was introduced.”
Mentioning that the Constitution of India provides this protection to the CEC, the BJP leader addressed the INDIA bloc, saying: “Go hold your mock parliament, carry out your marches. The world has already realised that Rahul Gandhi lacks the fuel. This ‘satellite’ will never launch. In fact, don’t dismantle the mock Parliament and instead keep him (LoP) as your mock Prime Minister for life. We have no objection.”
–IANS–
