Mockery of democratic process': BJP MP Sambit Patra hits out at INDIA bloc's 'mock parliament

BJP MP Sambit Patra on Saturday hit back at the Congress and the INDIA bloc over their allegations of "vote theft", accusing them of creating a political drama through their mock public impeachment programme against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Addressing a press conference, Patra said the Congress' protest was a "mock parliament" and claimed that the party was making a mockery of the democratic process. "The drama that the Congress party is currently staging, this 'mock parliament', is, in effect, making a mockery of Parliament itself," Patra said.   #WATCH | Delhi: On the INDIA bloc's symbolic public impeachment program against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, BJP MP Sambit Patra says, "...Today, regarding their allegation of vote theft, as Kharge ji was speaking about this issue of vote theft, I would like to tell Kharge ji: Yes, there is truth to the claim of vote theft.

Vote theft did indeed take place. Today is October 31st. It is the birth anniversary of the revered Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. And if there was ever a vote theft in India, it was committed by the first member of the Gandhi family, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who stole the votes of prominent Congress leaders. Those leaders had cast their votes in a ballot box to elect Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as Prime Minister. By stealing those votes, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime Minister of the country, an unelected Prime Minister." -- ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2026 Reacting to allegations raised by the opposition over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the BJP leader defended the process and explained the reasons behind names being excluded from voter lists.

Patra said that across several states, the names of around 13 crore people had not yet been included in the final electoral rolls. He referred to the "ASDD" formula used during the verification process. Explaining the term, Patra said, "A stands for 'Absent'." He said Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visit voters' homes three times to provide and collect enumeration forms. If a person is unavailable during all three visits, the name is marked as "absent". He further explained that "S" in ASDD stands for "Shifted", referring to people who have permanently moved from their registered address. While addressing the opposition's allegations of vote theft, Patra launched a political attack on the Congress.

"Vote theft did indeed take place," Patra said, adding that the first such instance, according to him, happened during the time of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He claimed that Nehru became Prime Minister despite Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel receiving more support in the Congress leadership election. "If there was ever a vote theft in India, it was committed by the first member of the Gandhi family, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru," Patra alleged. The BJP leader also accused the Congress of misleading people over the ongoing electoral roll revision process and said the SIR exercise was aimed at ensuring accuracy in voter lists.