EC no longer protector of democracy but key participant in 'vote chori' conspiracy: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that what is being done in Gujarat in the name of SIR is a "well-planned, organised, and strategic vote chori", with the Election Commission becoming a key participant in the "conspiracy of vote theft".
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been transformed into a weapon to destroy the constitutional right of "one person, one vote", so that the BJP, not the people, decides who will be in power.
"Wherever there's SIR, there's vote theft. What is being done in Gujarat in the name of SIR is not any kind of administrative process, it is a well-planned, organised, and strategic vote chori," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
The most shocking and dangerous thing is that thousands upon thousands of objections were filed under the same name, he claimed.
"Votes were selectively removed from specific communities and booths that support the Congress party. Wherever the BJP sees a potential defeat, voters are simply made to disappear from the system," Gandhi alleged.
"This same pattern was seen in Aland. The same thing happened in Rajura. And now the same blueprint is being implemented in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and every state where SIR has been imposed," he said.
"The most serious truth is that the Election Commission is no longer the protector of democracy, but has become a key participant in this conspiracy of vote theft," Gandhi said.
His remarks came over Gujarat Congress' social media post in which it alleged that after Rahul Gandhi exposed vote manipulation, the BJP has adopted a next-level model of election rigging.
"Election rigging means the theft of your voting rights, and this new game has come to light in Gujarat. According to the rules, the Election Commission, after the SIR, released the draft list and began accepting objections, setting January 18 as the final date. Only a handful of objections were received until January 15, but the real game began afterward. Under a conspiracy, millions of objections (Form 7) were suddenly submitted," the party's state unit claimed.
When the Election Commission released the 1.2 million objections, it became clear that rules were being flouted to target specific castes, communities, and regions. Dozens of objections were filed in the name of a single person, with different names and signatures, while the Election Commission remained a "silent spectator", it further alleged.
"When the main opposition party writes a letter requesting information about the objections, they receive no response, making the election rigging completely evident. This is because the Election Commission has mortgaged both its responsibility and accountability to the ruling party," the party claimed.
जहाँ-जहाँ SIR, वहाँ-वहाँ वोट चोरी।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 24, 2026
गुजरात में SIR के नाम पर जो कुछ किया जा रहा है, वह किसी भी तरह की प्रशासनिक प्रक्रिया नहीं है - यह सुनियोजित, संगठित और रणनीतिक वोट चोरी है।
सबसे चौंकाने वाली और ख़तरनाक बात यह है कि एक ही नाम से हज़ारों-हज़ार आपत्तियाँ दर्ज की गईं।
चुन-चुनकर… https://t.co/LC9i5DP44y
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
