Rahul Gandhi trying to create situation like Bangladesh and Nepal: BJP on ‘vote chori’ charge

Anurag Thakur

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday dubbed as "baseless" the allegations levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar is protecting "vote chors".

After Rahul Gandhi's press conference on "vote chori" earlier today, BJP's Anurag Thakur said that the Congress has lost 90 elections under the leadership of the present leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

"The Congress has lost approximately 90 elections under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. His frustration is increasing day-by-day. This has made politics of allegations his ornament. It has become a habit of Rahul Gandhi to make incorrect and baseless allegations. Seeking apology and being reprimanded by courts have become a routine of Rahul Gandhi," Thakur said at a briefing.

"When asked to authenticate the allegations made by him, Rahul turns his back and runs away; when asked to give an affidavit, he backs out," he added.

Thakur also claimed that the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is trying to create a situation like Bangladesh and Nepal in India. "While the Election Commission of India is functioning without bias, Rahul Gandhi is busy weakening democracy, misleading citizens, and trying to create a situation like Bangladesh and Nepal," he said.

His statement came after the Election Commission dismissed all allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding "vote chori", mentioning that no voter's name can be deleted by a member of the public through online.

"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 Rahul Gandhi," the ECI said in a statement.

Earlier today, Gandhi accused CEC Kumar of protecting "vote chors" and people who have destroyed democracy, and cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.

The EC pointed out that in 2023, "certain unsuccessful attempts" were made for deletion of electors in Aland Assembly constituency and an FIR was filed by the authority of EC itself to investigate the matter.

"As per records, Aland Assembly Constituency was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and BR Patil (INC) in 2023," it noted.