ECI should look into Rahul Gandhi's 'vote theft' presentation: Sharad Pawar

Nagpur: NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's presentation on "vote theft" was well-researched and well-documented, and it is up to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to look into the matter.

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Pawar admitted that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi should have been more careful before the elections in Maharashtra.

"We should have looked into it earlier and been careful," he said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as an "institutionalised chori" and claimed that the Election Commission was "openly colluding" with the BJP to carry out this "theft" with the objective of taking away the voting rights of the poor.

Pawar said Gandhi had made his presentation with detailed proof.

"The ECI should look into it," he said.

The veteran leader lamented that Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray's seating at a dinner meeting hosted by Rahul Gandhi has become an unnecessary controversy.

"There was a PowerPoint presentation. When we watch a movie on screen, we don't sit in front but at the back. Farooq Abdullah and I sat at the back. Similarly, Uddhav Thackeray and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were also seated at the back to watch the presentation properly," he said.

He further stated that the Opposition is yet to decide its stand on the Vice-Presidential election slated for September 9.

Pawar also rejected speculations about his faction joining hands with the ruling NCP led by his nephew Ajit Pawar.

"We will never align with a BJP-led alliance," he asserted.