K.C. Venugopal alleges Election Commission is being used to weaken Congress

K.C. Venugopal, General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), has made serious allegations, stating that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar will have to step down from his post soon. He made this statement while inaugurating the 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao' (Save Vote, Save Country) rally organised by the Kozhikode District Congress Committee at Kozhikode Beach on Saturday, 7 November 2026.

According to a report by The Hindu, Mr. Venugopal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of using the Election Commission of India to weaken the Congress and manipulate election results. Referring to the Haryana Assembly elections, he stated that despite predictions of a party wave, Congress lost by a narrow margin of only 0.4 percentage points. He claimed that booth-level investigations conducted under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi have revealed large-scale theft of votes. Additionally, he claimed that similar manipulations took place in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Launching personal attacks on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Mr. Venugopal alleged that he was involved in corruption during his previous tenure as the Ernakulam District Collector and Secretary of the Public Works Department in Kerala. He further stated that Mr. Shah had entrusted Gyanesh Kumar with the supervision of the division of Jammu and Kashmir.

Criticising the 2023 amendment to the law regarding the appointment of Election Commissioners, he said that the Modi government has given them more legal protection than the President, the Prime Minister, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). He alleged that despite the Supreme Court's judgment providing for the inclusion of the CJI, the government removed the Chief Justice from the selection committee and appointed a Union Minister in his place.

Speaking on voter lists, Mr. Venugopal claimed that the names of 13.32 crore voters have been deleted from lists across the country. He warned that this process poses a risk not only to the voting rights of citizens but also to obtaining government benefits and entitlements, as voter IDs are increasingly being linked with welfare schemes.

He added that the Prime Minister and the Chief Election Commissioner have become uneasy due to the ongoing protests in Delhi. He warned that if any attempt is made to suppress this movement using the police or armed forces, there will be a strong reaction from the opposition.

Mr. Venugopal clarified that this movement is not merely about winning elections or making Mr. Gandhi the Prime Minister in 2029, but is a fight to protect the voting rights and democratic freedom of every Indian citizen.