Oppn, ruling parties spar over Rahul's fresh 'vote chori' charges; Cong seeks Fadnavis' resignation

Mumbai, Sep 18 (PTI) 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 central government," Crasto said.

The allegations are getting "serious by the day" but the poll body does not appear to have valid answers, he said.

"The ECI must hold an independent inquiry and present the truth and facts to the people of India," the spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led party said.

Addressing a press conference in Thane, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed that 6,850 votes were manipulated in Rajura assembly constituency and even the state police, under the home ministry headed by CM Fadnavis, registered an FIR in the matter.

"Rahul Gandhi has once again exposed how democracy is being sabotaged in Maharashtra. The theft of over 6,000 votes in Rajura, now confirmed by an FIR filed by CM Fadnavis' own police, proves that the Mahayuti alliance has no moral right to remain in power," he said.

"The BJP captured power with the ECI's help by stealing votes. Fadnavis should open his eyes and resign immediately," he said.

He accused the ECI of acting with double standards, and alleged that CEC Gyanesh Kumar was speaking like a political leader.

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," the BJP office-bearer said.

Upadhye also claimed that in Maharashtra, several people had mentioned former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's residence in Karad as their address to obtain voter ID cards.

He said that when the draft electoral rolls were released in Bihar on August 1, the ECI had given one week's time to raise objections.

"So if any voters were being deleted, the Congress could have raised doubts at that time, but no objection was filed by the party. Between August 1 and 8, not a single political party which objected to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) filed any complaint. How can there now be claims of rigging of the voters' list? They want chaos and instability in the country," he said.

Muslim and Adivasi communities are the next target of Gandhi, he alleged.

Ajit Pawar-led NCP's Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare termed Gandhi's 'vote theft' allegations as "childish", and said voters were knowledgeable enough to understand the narrative being set by the Congress leader and the opposition INDIA bloc.

Speaking in Nagpur, he said the Congress was levelling such charges as it was not able to digest its "huge defeat" in the November 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.

"Rahul Gandhi is certainly the LoP, but he does not have the knowledge of booth-level (poll process) and his statements are very childish," he said.

He alleged that the opposition party was satisfied with its performance in last year's Lok Sabha elections, but was not able to digest their huge defeat in the state assembly elections.

"Therefore, they are bringing out such 'vote chori' allegations. But voters are knowledgeable enough to understand the narrative being set by the INDIA bloc and Rahul Gandhi," Tatkare said. PTI MR ND CLS COR NP