Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Monday said that the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will not take the oath as asked by the State Election Commission.
“We are not schoolboys to reply to whatever EC asks. It is their (EC) responsibility to get them. My leader (LoP Rahul Gandhi) has exhibited in public. He has given a presentation. EC has already got it,” said the Deputy Chief Minister.
Shivakumar further said that the Congress has asked the EC for more information, records.
“First, let them provide those records. We have asked them officially. I myself went to the Election Commission, and let them give the record. At no point, LoP Rahul Gandhi take an oath or answer to it. He has answered the EC in public,” Shivakumar underlined.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that Congress has already informed the EC about what went wrong in the elections, adding that it is the EC’s responsibility to resolve these issues and take action as per the law.
“If we have said anything wrong, let the Election Commission file a case against us. We have only pointed out what irregularities took place during the election process. We have stated that mistakes have occurred. We are not schoolchildren. Rahul Gandhi has informed the entire country about everything. When we met the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, he told us that they had investigated the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
He claimed that LoP Rahul Gandhi is fighting to protect the country’s democracy and to ensure justice for everyone, adding that his struggle is to see that not even a single vote is misused and that no political party engages in malpractice.
When asked about the notice issued to him by the Commission, Shivakumar said, “I have asked the Commission for some information. They have not yet given it to me. They sent it to me on WhatsApp, but I have not gone through it yet. Whatever they want, we will provide. We will submit everything that our research team has investigated. Even the media has reported facts from places where irregularities occurred, including house numbers and details of the residents.”
“Even the Dy CM of Bihar reportedly has two EPIC numbers, as stated by Bihar’s Tejashwi Yadav. Can’t the Election Commission look into this? Don’t they have responsibility? There have been many such mistakes. We will continue our fight on this matter,” he said.
He added that if giving wrong information is a reason for the Election Commission to file a case, then let them file it. “We have only informed the people of this country about what has happened. The media, which is the fourth pillar of democracy, must also create more and more awareness among the people on this issue,” he said.
Earlier, Shivakumar said that the State Election Commission has no authority to issue such a notice to Rahul Gandhi.
The notice was issued to Rahul Gandhi on Sunday and asked him to provide the necessary documents to inquire into allegations made in his press conference in Delhi on August 7, along with the oath that he is not providing false information, and he is aware that providing false information is a punishable offence.
(IANS)
