'Creating anarchy to relaunch Rahul': BJP on Congress's Form 6 claims

BJP’s Sambit Patra hits out at Rahul Gandhi over Form 6 row ahead of Opposition march to EC

NEW DELHI: BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Tuesday accused Rahul Gandhi of misleading the public over Form 6. He alleged that the Congress and INDIA bloc were attempting to undermine constitutional institutions ahead of their planned protest against the

Election Commission

.Patra said the Supreme Court had not declared Form 6 illegal and had only agreed to examine allegations concerning changes to the form. He also rejected Gandhi's claim of differences within the Election Commission over the issue, citing an ECI fact-check that said the Bihar SIR order was approved unanimously."Rahul Gandhi posted today regarding Form 6 after the hearing in the Supreme Court on the PIL. This is an attack on the Election Commission, but the second line mentions the BJP as well, so the BJP will respond to it.

Rahul Gandhi has misled the public on two points," Patra said."First, he claimed that Form 6 was illegal and specifically mentioned the Bharatiya Janata Party in this context. But the court did not declare Form 6 illegal today. The court noted that the petition mentioned changes to Form 6, so the court said it would examine the matter. We had not consented to any such changes. If any change has indeed been made, it will only become clear after the notice is issued," he said.

"Even after that, when we read the detailed order and look at the Election Commission's press release... it becomes clear that the Commission had explicitly stated that there was no change in Form 6, and the Supreme Court had upheld the associated declaration. Therefore, there is no ambiguity here. When Rahul Gandhi claims that Form 6 was illegal and that the Supreme Court said so today, he is lying," Patra added.

Patra also hit out at the Congress and INDIA bloc over their planned march to the Election Commission, alleging that the opposition was seeking to weaken democratic institutions to facilitate Gandhi's political rise."A sponsored attempt is being made by opposition parties, especially the Congress, as to how a change of power can be brought about in the country and Rahul Gandhi be made to sit in power just like that. For this, a blow to India's democracy and constitutional bodies is being hurled in a sponsored manner," he said."After failing multiple times, Congress leaders decided to establish anarchy in the country and attack institutions...

Today again, they are trying to create anarchy and undermine democratic institutions by allegedly marching towards the Election Commission," Patra said.He alleged that the Congress had been attempting for years to "launch and relaunch Rahul Gandhi", and accused the opposition of attacking institutions after failing to do so through electoral politics.

On the alleged dissent within the poll panel, Patra said the Election Commission had clarified that its order on the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar was issued with the unanimous approval of all commissioners."The fact-check states that the order regarding SIR in Bihar was issued with the unanimous approval of the Commission. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of India upheld this order in its decision. It was indeed a unanimous decision with no room for doubt," he said.