Rahul Gandhi stands for 'infiltrators first' politics, seeks to stoke chaos: BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday claimed that Rahul Gandhi's repeated allegations against constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission showed his lack of faith in democracy, and accused him of trying to stoke chaos and create in India the kind of unrest seen in Nepal and Bangladesh.

Former Union minister Anurag Thakur said "infiltrators first politics" is the sole agenda of Gandhi, alleging that the Congress leader may be speaking of the interests of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) but his bid to shield illegal voters by opposing the Election Commission's (EC's) review of electoral rolls will harm the interest of these communities.

The BJP's counterattack on Gandhi followed another presentation by him to the media, in which he sought to substantiate his allegation of "vote chori" against the poll watchdog.

Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting "vote chors" and people who have destroyed democracy, and cited data from Aland, an assembly seat in Karnataka, to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.

The EC rejected the charge, "Allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi." With the EC acknowledging that "certain unsuccessful attempts" were made for the deletion of electors in Aland in 2023, Thakur said an FIR was filed by the poll authority itself to investigate the matter.

The EC has shared the mobile number and IP details with the CID of the Congress-ruled Karnataka, he added, slamming the police for lack of action in the probe.

Thakur, a five-term Lok Sabha MP of the BJP and former Union minister, asserted that Gandhi was shying away from filing an affidavit, as asked by the EC, or from moving the court as his claims were not substantiated. The Congress leader had to eat humble pie on previous occasions when he moved courts against the government, alleging corruption in the Rafale deal, he added.

It is due to this fear that Gandhi is not moving the court on this issue, he claimed.

Defending the EC and hitting back at the Congress, he cited the association with the opposition party of past chief election commissioners (CECs) like M S Gill, who became a minister in the UPA government, and T N Seshan, who fought Lok Sabha polls on its ticket.

He recalled how the then UPA government went on to appoint Navin Chawla as CEC in 2009 despite a damning letter against his elevation from the outgoing CEC N Gopalaswami. Chawla was accused of leaking classified and sensitive information, he noted.

"It is the Congress which misused the EC. When it (EC) is working in an impartial manner now, Rahul Gandhi is repeatedly trying to weaken the Indian democracy and mislead people. He seeks to create the kind of situation in the country which we have seen in Bangladesh and Nepal," he added.

After Gandhi said it was not his job to protect democracy but he had stepped in as institutions tasked with the responsibility were not doing so, Thakur said the Congress leader had dropped a hydrogen bomb on himself and asked if he was working to destroy democracy.

The Congress leader has been repeatedly questioning poll results by attacking EVMs sometimes or targeting the EC as his frustration has been rising over the Congress' repeated defeats in elections on his watch, he said, adding that the politics of allegations has become an ornament for him.

In Aland, Thakur noted, it was the Congress candidate who won, and asked if it was a result of "vote chori".

In this context, he also mentioned a recent Karnataka High Court's decision to set aside the election of Congress legislator K Y Nanjegowda from Malur constituency and order a recount of votes polled in the 2023 assembly elections.