New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission (EC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over 'Vote Chori', claiming that the election watchdog "stayed awake" to watch the "theft" and protect the thieves.

The Congress MP accused the BJP and the Poll Panel of facilitating large-scale "voter manipulation" during the elections.

In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that lakhs of "voters" had been removed from electoral rolls in a matter of seconds, and claimed that the poll body had deliberately turned a "blind eye" to the wrongdoing.

"Wake up at 4 AM,...Delete two voters in 36 seconds,...Then go back to sleep - that's how the vote theft happened! The election watchdog stayed a...