Leaders alleging vote theft are consoling themselves for poll defeat: Fadnavis

Nagpur, Aug 24 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said leaders alleging vote theft were doing so to provide solace to their workers for their defeat in polls instead of introspecting about their loss.

Fadnavis's remark has come after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday said that he had been talking about "vote theft" since 2016, and the Election Commission should have conducted a probe when both Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the BJP's Anurag Thakur alleged voter list fraud.

Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis, in a veiled jibe, said, "Poet Ghalib once said 'Dil behelana ke liye khayal acha hain' (to console the heart, this thought is good). I want to say that they (leaders) are trying to provide solace to themselves and their workers by claiming there was a conspiracy behind their defeat in elecctions. But I want to tell them that they must introspect about their defeat, or they will never win." Asked about Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks too much but works less, he said, "Why do you ask me about Kharge ji? He speaks about many things, and we don't take him seriously. He is not a person to be taken seriously." The chief minister further dismissed questions about Raj Thackeray's frequent meetings with him and the confusion it raised, asserting that the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP is unbreakable.

"There is no reason for people to be confused, our Mahayuti is unbreakable. We will fight the elections together. An alliance is not decided based on who meets us, nor is politics determined by such meetings. Mahayuti will fight and it will win," he said. PTI CLS ARU