Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegation of manipulation made against the Election Commission is a ploy to “create unrest and anarchy” in the country.
“Despite repeated explanation by the Election Commission, the opposition continues to level baseless charges against the BJP. This is an insult to the people’s mandate and democratic system. All these charges are baseless. The Congress has no agenda because the people have rejected them in the Maharashtra Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Instead of doing a serious introspection, the Congress is looking for excuses to cover up its failures,” he told the media here.
“I think that Rahul Gandhi needs to get his brain checked. Either his brain has been stolen or there is a chip missing from his brain. That’s the reason he is making such statements,” Fadnavis said.
However, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party criticised the BJP as well as the Election Commission of India on Friday, even as Congress activists attempted to block traffic in Dadar.
On Friday, the Maharashtra unit of the Congress led by Maharashtra state Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal and senior Congress leaders like Mohan Joshi, Rajan Bhosale, Kishore Kanhere, Anant Gadgil, Atul Londhe and hundreds of activists staged a protest and attempted to block traffic in Mumbai’s Dadar area, after which were taken away by the police.
Sapkal alleged that there the BJP and Election Commission colluded to commit “vote chori” (vote theft) on a large scale and in Maharashtra alone more than 40 lakh bogus votes were cast, undermining the democratic electoral process.
“According to the Election Commission’s own regulations, such complaints should prompt immediate investigations under the Rules 17, 18, 19. So why has the probe not yet started
instead of making laughable comments like stating the same things on oath,” Sapkal said.
Sapkal also called Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a ‘Chip Minister’ after Fadnavis said that the chip in Rahul Gandhi’s head was stolen and his hard disk was corrupted.
“The language used by Fadnavis raises questions about whether he is the Election Commission’s agent, lawyer or spokesperson. He does not speak with pride but with arrogance by stooping to such low personal level attacks,” Sapkal said.
Sapkal wondered why the BJP gets so irritated whenever questions are raised about the Election Commission, and why Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Fadnavis rush to defend it.
“Regardless of whichever political ideology you belong to, if you are a true patriot and a true Indian, you can see how Rahul Gandhi exposed the Election Commission. We have been saying since long that the Election Commission ensured that India hasn’t had a free and fair election. Rahul Gandhi exposed the Election Commission logically, with proof and facts. The Election Commission must answer the questions and proofs presented by Rahul Gandhi. The Election Commission must change its name to Entirely Compromised Commission,” Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray said.
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi accused the Election Commission of “blatant bias towards the ruling BJP”, and alleged manipulation of voters list in Maharashtra. He demanded an urgent audit of voters lists.
“People must take to the streets to protest against the wrongdoing of the Election Commission,” Azmi said.
Azmi claimed that names of valid voters were added in the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar assembly constituency just six months before the elections last year, which were then inexplicably removed and substituted with names of non-residents.
Azmi said that the losses of key Congress leaders in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, including former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan as well as Congress veteran Balasaheb Thorat, are proof of malpractices.
Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said, “From the very beginning people of the country had suspected that something is fishy (“dal me kuch kala hai”).
Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad said, “I have said this time and again that vote robbery (“chori”) was the only reason why the BJP won the election”.
“Rahul Gandhi has exposed the Election Commission through a detailed presentation about dubious voting patterns. Now, it is the turn of the Election Commission to provide the CCTV footage and the electronic voters list. The people of India need answers. The ball is now in the court of the Election Commission of India,” Sharad Pawar-led NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said.