Congress alleges voter fraud in Rajura, warns of legal action

Mumbai, Sep 9 (PTI) The Congress in Maharashtra on Tuesday alleged large-scale voter fraud in Chandrapur district's Rajura assembly constituency on the lines of the Mahadevapura case in Karnataka, and warned of approaching the court if no action was taken within a month.

The BJP said the allegations were baseless and aimed at covering up the Congress's own failures.

Addressing a press conference, state Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said despite an FIR being registered nearly 11 months ago, no investigation has been initiated into bogus online voter registrations in Rajura.

"Between October 1 and October 15, 2024, as many as 11,667 fake voters were registered online in Rajura constituency. Following a complaint by Congress candidate Subhash Dhote, 6,853 names were deleted. However, the police and administration have not shared details of the IP addresses, email IDs and mobile numbers used in the fraudulent registrations," Londhe claimed.

He further alleged that the BJP's Rajura candidate was caught with Rs 61 lakh in cash and election material by the Election Commission's flying squad, and a case was registered at Gadchandur police station. "Yet, no action has been taken in this matter either," he said.

Londhe accused the BJP of colluding with the Election Commission to commit voter fraud, pointing to similar irregularities in Mahadevapura constituency recently flagged by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"Despite repeated representations by our candidate to the Election Commission, district collector and superintendent of police, there has been no progress. If action is not initiated within a month, Congress will move the courts," Londhe warned.

Chandrapur District Congress Committee president and former MLA Subhash Dhote was also present during the press conference. Dhote was defeated in the 2024 assembly polls by the BJP by over 2,000 votes. Rajura falls in the Chandrapur parliamentary constituency.

Reacting to the allegations, Maharashtra BJP media chief Navnath Ban dismissed them as baseless. "The people of Rajura, as well as across Maharashtra, have rejected the Congress and placed their trust in the BJP candidate, and that is the real pain for the party," Ban said.

"This is why Atul Londhe and Congress are making fresh false allegations every day to create confusion. Instead of seeking people's support, the party has started a campaign of making baseless claims and maligning the election process," he added.

Calling the complaint a "political stunt", Ban said, "There is no concrete evidence. Their daily exercise of throwing out new figures and fresh claims is only an attempt to grab headlines in the media. Elections in Maharashtra were conducted transparently, legally and with people's trust.

"The allegation of vote theft is nothing but a deceptive political ploy to cover up the Congress' failure. The people have rejected the Congress, and no amount of theatrics will change that reality," Ban asserted. PTI MR ND KRK