Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ridiculed allegations made by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi that voter turnout increased in the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s constituency by more than 8 per cent between the Lok Sabha election and the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election.

Fadnavis tweeted on his X handle on Tuesday that the Congress won in more than two dozen places where the voter turnout increased by over 8 per cent.

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“It’s understood that the pain of Maharashtra’s crushing defeat is growing day by day, but how long will you keep shooting arrows in the air?” Fadnavis tweeted in response to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations.

Fadnavis stated that there are more than 25 constituencies in Maharashtra where voter turnout increased by more than 8 per cent between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and yet it is the Congress which won in many of those constituencies.

“In the West Nagpur constituency, adjacent to my South-West region, voter turnout increased by 7 per cent (27,065), and Congress candidate Vikas Thakre won the election. In North Nagpur, voter turnout increased by 7 per cent (29,348), and Nitin Raut from Congress won,” Fadnavis responded.

“In Pune district’s Wadgaon Sheri, voter turnout increased by 10 per cent (50,911), and Bapusaheb Pathare from the Sharad Pawar faction won. In Malad West, voter turnout increased by 11 per cent (38,625), and your Congress party’s Aslam Shaikh won. In Mumbra, voter turnout increased by 9 per cent (46,041), and Jitendra Awhad from the Sharad Pawar faction won,” Fadnavis tweeted on his X account.

“Even if not with allied parties, it would have been better if you had spoken to your own party’s long-time associates like Aslam Shaikh, Vikas Thakre, and Nitin Raut before this tweet,” Fadnavis tweeted, responding to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations.

Earlier on Tuesday, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi tweeted on his X handle that “In Maharashtra, in the CM’s own constituency, the voters list grew by 8% in just 5 months. Some booths saw a 20-50% surge. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) reported unknown individuals casting votes. The media uncovered thousands of voters with no verified address. And the Election Commissions? Silent–or complicit. These aren’t isolated glitches. This is vote theft. The cover-up is the confession. That’s why we demand the immediate release of machine-readable digital voter rolls and CCTV footage”, Rahul Gandhi alleged on his X handle.