'BJP and EC join forces': Rahul Gandhi slams EC over TMC name, symbol freeze

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Election Commission for barring TMC from using party name and symbol in the upcoming assembly bypolls in West Bengal, accusing the poll panel and Bharatiya Janata Party of joining forces to split a party.In a social media post on X, Rahul pointed towards the past examples of split in shiv Sena and NCP."First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern—BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then its election symbol is snatched away," the Congress leader said."When an entire party can be stolen, it's hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too," he added.Rahul also said that "vote chori, sarkaar chori and now party chori have become the symbols of democratic decline" in the country."Vote theft. Government theft.