"ECI only hurting its own reputation": Gaurav Gogoi accuses poll body of not being "transparent"

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Sunday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its handling of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations related to voter lists, saying that the constitutional body is "hurting its reputation". Speaking to ANI, the Congress MP said, "The Election Commission of India is only hurting its own reputation by not showing the facts and coming out transparently to the people of India." His reaction comes a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday once again asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to either give a declaration as per the rules or apologise to the country for his "false" allegations regarding the voter lists. "Rahul Gandhi should either give a Declaration as per rules or apologise to the country for his false allegations," ECI said in an official statement. Rahul Gandhi, on August 7, claimed that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were "choreographed" by the EC to benefit the BJP. Citing an internal analysis, Gandhi said the Congress expected to win 16 seats in Karnataka but ended up with only nine. He said the Congress investigated seven unexpected losses, zeroing in on Mahadevapura, where he alleged vote theft involving 1,00,250 votes. He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to "pause" Operation Sindoor despite Indian forces' advantage. The Congress MP said, "Why did PM Modi pause Operation Sindoor?... We remember in 1971, the Pakistan Armed Forces surrendered. We've all seen the famous picture of them surrendering and handing over their weapons." His reaction came after Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Saturday said that India took down at least five fighter jets of Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and downed one large aircraft, which was taken down at a distance of about 300 kilometres.