EC Row: BJP Says Congress Creating “Anarchy” to Relaunch Rahul Gandhi

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Tuesday accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of trying to create "anarchy" and weaken constitutional institutions solely to "launch and relaunch Rahul Gandhi," hours before opposition MPs were due to march to the Election Commission of India.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Patra alleged that the Congress was orchestrating a "sponsored attempt" to dismantle democratic norms after failing repeatedly in electoral politics.

"A sponsored attempt is being made by opposition parties, especially the Congress, as to how a change of power can be brought about in the country and Rahul Gandhi be made to sit in power just like that. For this, a blow to India's democracy and constitutional bodies is being hurled in a sponsored manner," he said.

"NOT A FEW MONTHS OLD"

Patra said the effort had been in motion "for years." In his words, when the attempts to launch Gandhi failed, the Congress and some allies decided they would attack Indian democracy and establish anarchy in the country if that was what it took.

Of the planned march to Nirvachan Sadan, the Election Commission's headquarters, he said: "Today again, they are trying to create anarchy and undermine democratic institutions by allegedly marching towards the Election Commission."

THE FORM 6 CLAIM

Patra turned to Gandhi's post on X after Monday's Supreme Court hearing on a public interest litigation concerning Form 6, saying the Leader of Opposition had misled the public on two counts.

The first, he said, was Gandhi's claim that Form 6 was illegal. "The court did not declare Form 6 illegal today," Patra said. The court noted that the petition mentioned changes to the form and said it would examine the matter. "We had not consented to any such changes. If any change has indeed been made, it will only become clear after the notice is issued."

Citing the court's detailed order and the Election Commission's press release, he said the Commission had explicitly stated that there was no change in Form 6 and that the Supreme Court had upheld the associated declaration. "When Rahul Gandhi claims that Form 6 was illegal and that the Supreme Court said so today, he is lying," he said.

THE UNANIMITY CLAIM

The second point, Patra said, was Gandhi's claim that the decision was not unanimous, meaning that all three Election Commissioners had not decided together. He cited the Commission's fact-check, which he said states that the order on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar was issued with the unanimous approval of the Commission and was later upheld by the Supreme Court.

"It was indeed a unanimous decision with no room for doubt," he said, demanding accountability from Gandhi for what he called falsehoods against constitutional bodies.

THE MARCH

Opposition MPs are to march from Parliament House to Nirvachan Sadan at 11 am. They are protesting alleged irregularities in the SIR and demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The march is part of the opposition's wider "Save Democracy" campaign. MPs have been asked to assemble at Makar Dwar at 10.30 am, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, and he added that the march would be peaceful.

The Biju Janata Dal said its members would take part, while Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said his party would not. Security has been tightened outside the Election Commission's headquarters, with barricades in place.

WHAT THE FORM 6 ROW IS ABOUT

The row centres on a new declaration attached to the online Form 6, used to apply for inclusion in the electoral rolls, which asks applicants to state whether they or their parents were mapped in the previous SIR.

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 and would examine the record to see who had changed it, after the Commission claimed last week that the declaration had been approved by the court.

The petition before the court alleges that 14 SIR-related decisions were taken in the Commission's name despite objections said to have been recorded by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The Commission has said its SIR orders had the unanimous approval of all three commissioners. Gandhi said on X that it was now "established beyond doubt" that Kumar changed Form 6 "illegally and unilaterally."

NOT THE FIRST MARCH

The opposition has marched on the Election Commission before. In August 2025, nearly 300 INDIA bloc MPs led by Gandhi tried to march from Parliament to Nirvachan Sadan, but were stopped by barricades and security forces, and scores of MPs, including Gandhi, were detained.

The protest followed Gandhi's allegation, at a press conference, of "vote chori," or vote theft, through collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission. He cited an analysis of the Mahadevapura assembly seat in Karnataka, where he claimed over a lakh votes were fake or duplicate. The Commission and the BJP have rejected the charge.

With inputs from ANI