New Delhi: The BJP hit back strongly after Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made fresh claims of vote theft.
Tearing into the Congress leader, the saffron party alleged that Rahul wants to create a situation similar to Nepal and Bangladesh, thereby weakening India’s democracy.
“While the Election Commission of India (ECI) is functioning without bias, Rahul Gandhi is busy weakening democracy, misleading citizens, and trying to create a situation like Bangladesh and Nepal,” Anurag Thakur said at a press conference.
Nepal was recently rocked by unprecedented violence as students and youth protested the government’s ban on several social media platforms, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Prime Minister in August 2024 amid massive protests.
The BJP MP also alleged that Rahul’s repeated allegations against the ECI was a reflection of Congress’ lack of faith in Indian democracy. “They have made the politics of allegations their ornament. When the Election Commission asks them to verify the allegations they themselves have made, they turn their back and run away. When asked to file an affidavit, they back out. Making false and baseless allegations has become a habit of Rahul Gandhi,” Thakur said.
Earlier in the day, Rahul doubled down on his vote theft allegations, accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting “vote chors”.
This time, Rahul mentioned two Assembly constituencies — Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra — to justify his claims of voter fraud.
Charging ECI of voter manipulation using automated software, the Leader of Opposition claimed that 6,018 vote deletions were attempted in Aland constituency in 2023, while 6,850 fake entries were added online in Rajura.
Countering Rahul’s charges, Thakur pointed out that it was the Congress candidate who won the Aland seat.
Agreeing that attempts were made to steal votes, the BJP leader said ECI had directed filing of an FIR in the case.
“The Election Commission has already provided the mobile number and IP address. After all this, what has the CID of Congress-ruled Karnataka done so far? According to the records, it was the Congress candidate from the Aland assembly constituency who had won. So, did Congress win by stealing votes?” Thakur asked.
The poll panel refuted Rahul’s claims, saying they were “incorrect and baseless”, and asserting it wasn’t possible to delete votes online.