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The Congress party launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India, alleging internal discord, voter list manipulation, and an assault on democratic norms. Addressing the media, leaders highlighted reports alleging that internal concerns raised in writing by election commissioners were suppressed by the Chief Election Commissioner. The party pointed to dissent notes regarding Form 6 alterations, electoral registration officer access restrictions, and massive voter deletions across states like Maharashtra and Haryana. The opposition demanded full transparency by calling for all internal dissent notes to be placed in the public domain. Trinamool Congress and other opposition parties reiterated demands for accountability and course correction within the poll body, with discussions around moving an impeachment motion during Parliament's winter session. Meanwhile, Election Commission sources maintained that decisions were made collectively, asserting that differences of opinion during internal discussions are standard institutional procedures before final orders are signed.

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00:00Congress' blistering attack on the Election Commission.
00:04Congress says CEC hijacking its own commissioner, Kyanesh Sharma, doing internal bulldozing.
00:15Yes, they also said that they would like to have a bridge here.
00:20And that they're having a series actually all across the constituency.
00:25The Manrega, the VBG Ramji workers.
00:30They are having a major problem because they have to upload their details of doing the work twice a day.
00:37In these areas there's no signal, there's no tower, sometimes the portal is not functioning.
00:44It's very difficult, they don't even have smartphones.
00:46So it's a very, very difficult process for them to upload their photograph twice a day
00:52and to go through that whole complicated process.
00:57And Abhishek Manu Singhvi is also addressing a press conference on the Election Commission issue.
01:04Let's listen in to what he has to say.
01:35What have you heard from this country?
01:35where you won't win
01:36where you won't win
01:38in Karnatak
01:40where you won't win
01:40where you won't win
01:44where you won't win
01:46where you won't win
01:46I have no obsession
01:48I've never seen
01:53I've seen
01:55FIR
01:56candidate
01:57who 2026
01:58you won't win
02:01FIR
02:02why
02:02Why ?
02:04By-pole
02:06são
02:06listen to
02:15some complaints
02:18and this is the most important thing that you have listened to today's report,
02:28or the complaints of today's report.
02:31I will say that some days before,
02:37Mr. Ramesh Ji had a few of them,
02:40I would like to have three or four of them.
02:43This is a repetition,
02:44but in today's report,
02:491.
02:51Phase 1 and Phase 2,
02:537.8 crores,
02:558 crores have been deleted.
02:58Phase 1 and Phase 2.
03:00This is the number 1.
03:03If you have seen that it is coming out in the news media as well,
03:10that election commissioners themselves have highlighted some of the issues to Gyanesh Kumar Ji.
03:16So I think this is an extremely serious issue for our democracy.
03:21Because if there are no elections, then where is democracy?
03:25And if the elections are unfair, and they are being rigged in any manner,
03:30and the election commission is assisting in that,
03:33and if the election commissioner himself is not only aware of it,
03:37but he is allowing it to happen,
03:39then it is a very, very serious assault on democracy.
03:42It is actually treachery with the nation.
03:47It is an act of treason.
03:50And whoever is doing it has to be taken to task.
03:54There should be proper procedure,
03:56and it should be properly investigated.
03:58And investigated not by people who are not going to have a fair investigation into it,
04:03but it should be looked into in a manner where we know,
04:07and the whole nation knows that this is being done in a proper manner.
04:10Because the nation can know,
04:12we are the largest democracy in the world,
04:14and we have had a robust democracy for years, for decades.
04:19We cannot afford to go lightly on these issues.
04:23We are all working tirelessly to strengthen our democracy.
04:28And here is the election commission that is doing all it can to weaken it.
04:33If that is actually the case,
04:35and if what has come in the news media are actual facts,
04:39and if what we have suspected for a very long time,
04:41which Rahul Gandhi ji has been highlighting again and again,
04:44with the manipulation of voters lists,
04:46the deletion of lakhs and lakhs of voters,
04:49the manipulations that have taken place in states like Maharashtra, Haryana,
04:55we have seen again and again,
04:57then absolutely this is something extremely serious,
05:01and those people who are responsible for it,
05:04they have to be taken to task.
05:06They have to be held responsible.
05:11Now the whole day you will leave me alone.
05:16All right, the Congress there raising serious concerns for India's democracy,
05:21blistering attack on the election commission,
05:23amid reports of allegations that CEC hijacking its own commissioners.
05:29Remember the reports alleging that there were internal concerns raised,
05:34which were bulldozed allegedly by the chief election commissioner,
05:39and the Congress party has very clearly seized upon this report,
05:44saying that even though the Supreme Court and the Constitution say that all election commissioners are equal,
05:51the CEC is the first among equals,
05:53but it seems that CEC is hijacking his own commissioners.
05:58In fact, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi pointing out very clearly that there should be,
06:06that any dissent notes that were filed by the election commissioners should be put out in public domain.
06:13Priyanka Gandhi also very clearly attacking the election commission's functioning,
06:17questioning what is happening in the commission.
06:23Let's listen in once again to what Abhishek Manu Singhvi has been saying in the press conference.
06:30They have not given the country's statements,
06:34which they are doing a lot of years.
06:37But they have committed their colleagues themselves.
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09:45sources, however, they have told India today that if you look at the documents where the
09:50signatures had taken place, then all three of them had signed on all the orders. And
09:55yes, there was definitely a discussion that happened. And in discussion, people can have
09:59different viewpoints. That is something that at the moment is being looked at. But yes,
10:04all the opposition parties, be it the Samajwadi party, be it the Congress party, be it TMC,
10:09all of them pointing fingers and saying that this is exactly what they had also been speaking
10:13about and also saying that now is the time when course correction needs to be done within the
10:17election council of India. Well, Aishwarya, you know, you're talking about political parties
10:22calling for course correction, but we're also seeing these reports, these allegations that
10:26the election commissioners themselves have been raising concerns. Now, Abhishek Manu Singh,
10:32we're also saying that any dissent notes, any statements, etc. that were raised should be put
10:38in public domain so that people should know what is happening. Even Priyanka Gandhi saying
10:42this seems to be strangling of democracy inside the commission itself.
10:48Definitely, you know, those questions are being raised. The election commission at the moment
10:52quite about the kind of questions that in fact were being raised by both the election,
10:58by both the ECs now, but what the election commission also has gone forward and said that
11:03whenever there are discussions that take place, most of the times there are different opinions
11:07which come to the fore, but at the time of decision making, all three of them were on the
11:12same page. But yes, there are some questions that the election commission still needs to answer.
11:17The questions with regards to what the election commissioner, in fact, SS Sandhu also had spoken
11:22about and had said that there were changes in Form 6 that were being made. That is something which the
11:28opposition parties now also are very keenly pointing fingers. And apart from that, they are also saying
11:33that there are clear answers that not just the opposition party, but even people of the country
11:38are now willing to ask. In fact, let me tell you, TMC, one of the parties which in fact had
11:44been
11:44speaking against Gyanesh Kumar had also given him the nickname of being Vanished Kumar because the TMC
11:50said that names from the electoral rule were being vanished. TMC now saying that the impeachment motion that
11:55they wanted to bring against the CEC is something that the opposition parties together should once again
12:00look at and is something that should in fact be brought out in the upcoming winter session of
12:04parliament. Anisha. Well, Aishwarya, you know, we've been seeing this question of how the EC has been functioning.

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