Oppn, NDA in war of words over Rahul’s fresh ‘vote chori’ charges

Mumbai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fresh allegations of irregularities in voters’ list, including in an assembly segment in Maharashtra, triggered a war of words between the ruling and Opposition parties with the latter on Thursday demanding Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ resignation.

Opposition NCP (SP) said Gandhi’s fresh allegations of irregularities in voters’ list raised a question mark over the integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI), and sought an independent inquiry by the poll body into the Congress MP’s charges.

Accusing the ECI of acting with double standards, the Congress demanded CM Fadnavis’ resignation, saying he had no moral right to continue in office after Gandhi exposed “vote theft” in the Rajura assembly constituency of Chandrapur district.

Taking forward his “vote theft” claims, Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who “destroyed democracy” and cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.

He also gave the example of Maharashtra’s Rajura constituency where he claimed voters were added in a fraudulent manner using automated software.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said allegations made by Gandhi over large-scale deletion of names from electoral rolls were “serious in nature” and warrant an independent probe.

In a statement posted on X, he said the Congress MP has demonstrated how names in the electoral rolls are being removed through dubious means, raising questions over the integrity of the ECI.

“How did these name-deleters get access to an individual’s voter ID account? How can the ECI’s portal be hacked so easily? Or is someone in the ECI complicit? These are the questions that need to be answered by the ECI and the Centre,” Crasto said.

The ruling BJP and NCP, however, hit out at Gandhi over his allegations.

State BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye dubbed the Congress MP as the “badshah” or king of “vote theft”, and said he should apologise to the people of India for repeatedly levelling “unfounded allegations” about the poll process.

“Nothing can be proven just by allegations. You have to fight a legal battle within the framework of the Constitution...Gandhi should focus on pursuing a legal battle instead of holding press conferences. Will he ever take efforts to file an affidavit before the Election Commission...He would not do so as he wanted to create chaos and instability,” he said.