Baghel takes swipe at CEC Gyanesh Kumar over Bihar poll outcome; says he played 'crucial' role

Durg: Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Friday took a swipe at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying he played a "crucial" role in the Bihar assembly elections and was "responsible" for the poll outcome as trends show that the NDA is set to register a big win. The former Chhattisgarh chief minister also said things were "clear" the way the Election Commission functioned. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appeared to register a landslide victory in Bihar, opening up impressive leads in more than 180 of the state's 243 assembly seats, with early trends also indicating that the saffron party was on track to post its biggest tally. Talking to media here, Baghel, who is Congress' senior observer for Bihar elections, said, "The trends indicate that the NDA is heading towards a three-fourth majority. (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah had already spoken about this (outcome). If there is one person responsible for this entire election (result), it is Gyanesh Kumar. Congratulations and best wishes to him in advance for this."

Asked why he was blaming Gyanesh Kumar, Baghel said, "The way the Election Commission functioned, it made everything clear. Therefore, whoever is responsible will be congratulated. Gyanesh Kumar ji's role was crucial in this entire election, so many congratulations and best wishes to him". On being asked why the Congress keeps forging an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) if the latter's image is that of 'jungle raj', he said, "Those born 20 years ago don't know about the jungle raj. They know about the current jungle raj. Everyone across the country knows about the jungle raj of Modi and Shah." This is a matter of setting the narrative. Congratulations to Gyanesh Kumar for this, he added. On questions being raised about the role of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said, "There are many more things that will come out."