New Delhi: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday (August 1) accused the Election Commission “vote chori” (vote theft) and said that the Congress has proof which will explode like an “atom bomb” to prove how the poll body is facilitating vote theft to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Gandhi accused the commission of “treason” and working against the country and said that involved officials will be tracked down, even if they have retired.“Votes are being stolen. Now we have open and shut proof that the Election Commission is facilitating vote theft. I am saying this with 100% evidence. As soon as we present this evidence to everyone, the entire country will know that the Election Commission is facilitating vote theft. For whom is it doing this? It is doing this for the BJP. No question,” he said while speaking to reporters outside parliament.Gandhi said that the Congress had conducted their own investigation and found an “atom bomb.”“We had suspicions in Madhya Pradesh, we had suspicions in the Lok Sabha elections, this went further in the Maharashtra Assembly elections where 1 crore voters were added. Then we went further as the Election Commission was not helping us, so we conducted our own investigation. This investigation took 6 months, and what we found is an Atom Bomb. This atom bomb will explode and the Election Commission won’t be visible anymore,” he said.“Those who are involved in vote theft in the Election Commission- right from the top to the bottom- we will not spare them. Because you are working against India, which is treason. Wherever you are, whether retired or not, we will find you.”Later on Friday, the Election Commission on X posted a “fact check” statement in which it called Gandhi’s statement misleading.The poll body said that over a year had passed since the 2024 elections and ten election petitions had been received, of which none were from any losing member of the Congress.“Now one year later, to accuse lakhs of election officials, continuously intimidate and threaten them and accusing them of vote theft, is highly irresponsible. Not using the remedies available under law in time and then making such statements in the media is unfortunate,” the poll body said.Parliamentary affairs minister Rijiju hits backUnion parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju hit back at Gandhi, saying that the Congress MP has been consistently threatening constitutional institutions and called it a “conspiracy to weaken democracy.“Rahul Gandhi has constantly been threatening constitutional institutions. This is not new. How did Modi win in 2014? We did not have our government then,” he said.“Since then there have been states in which the Congress has won, while in others NDA parties have won. How did they win those-in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal. How did they win? This is a conspiracy to weaken democracy by attacking constitutional institutions constantly.“When Supreme Court judgements go against them, they speak against the court. If they don’t win elections they blame the Election Commission. This malicious campaign to attack constitutional institutions is a threat to democracy.”Last month, Gandhi had alleged that the Congress has “concrete 100% proof of the Election Commission allowing cheating in a seat in Karnataka” which will be brought out before the public.“I am absolutely convinced that constituency after constituency this is the drama that is being played. Thousands and thousands of new voters, how old are they? 50,45,60, 65 new voters. And this is one thing-Voter deletion, addition, new voters who are above 18. And I want to send a message to the Election Commission, if you think you are going to get away with this, if you think your officers will get away with this you are mistaken. We are going to come for you,” he had said.The Election Commission had then called his allegation “misleading” while the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka had said: “As per law, appeals can be filed against wrongful additions or deletions in the electoral rolls. No appeals were received.”