New Delhi, August 17: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar On Sunday held a press conference over Congress MP and Leader Of Opposition In Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's "Vote Theft" allegations. He criticised Rahul Gandhi for using the photos of the voters without their consent and strongly objected to it. Speaking in Hindi during a press briefing, he said, “We have recently seen that some voters’ photos were shown to the media without their permission and used to make allegations.”
Rahul Gandhi had sought CCTV footage from polling stations to check if any instances of duplicate or proxy voting took place. However, the Election Commission denied to provide the footage and claimed it will not be appropriate to share the CCTV footage of other women.
Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar raised the important 'ethical question', saying, “Should the Election Commission share CCTV videos of someone’s mother, daughter-in-law, sister or anyone else?” He stressed that privacy must be respected and warned against unnecessary exposure of voters.
He further clarified the rule of law in elections, stating that only those whose names are listed in the official voter roll are eligible to cast their vote. This reminder came amid allegations of irregularities and proxy voting in some areas.
The Commission assured that any complaints of malpractice will be investigated thoroughly, but also emphasised that the dignity and privacy of voters cannot be compromised in the process.
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