Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has strongly criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its notice to Rahul Gandhi, stating that the poll body is “not a court” and should not act like one when handling petitions or complaints. Chidambaram said the ECI is an administrative body tasked with ensuring free and fair elections and has a duty not only towards political parties but also to the country’s voters.

Referring to Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, Chidambaram clarified that it applies only in cases where the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) accepts or rejects a specific claim for inclusion in the voter list, not in situations involving alleged large-scale manipulation of an entire constituency’s electoral roll.

The remarks come after the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) asked Rahul Gandhi to provide evidence supporting his claim that a voter, Shakun Rani, had voted twice in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. The CEO cited Gandhi’s recent press conference where he displayed documents he claimed were EC data and alleged that the tick marks on a voter ID card indicated double voting, marked by a polling booth officer.

Rahul Gandhi has demanded the release of digital voter rolls to allow public and party audits, calling vote chori an attack on the core principle of one man, one vote. On Monday, MPs from the opposition INDIA bloc, led by Gandhi, plan to march to the ECI headquarters in New Delhi to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged election malpractice. The issue has reignited debates over voter list transparency, with the Congress maintaining that a clean, accessible electoral roll is essential to protect the integrity of India’s democratic process. The ECI is yet to respond to Chidambaram’s latest remarks.