Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Solitude Shinde dismissed the new allegations of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of irregularities in the voter list as “completely baseless” and challenged him to present a formal affidavit in the Election Commission (EC).
Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of saving “democracy” and cited the data of Karnataka assembly constituency, claiming that the votes of Congress supporters were being systematically removed before the election.
However, the Election Commission termed the allegations as “wrong and baseless” and said, “No vote can be removed by any common man online, as Gandhi has made a misconception.”
After his claims, the war between the ruling and opposition parties has erupted, and the opposition parties have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Speaking to reporters late on Thursday night, Shinde said that the election process in Maharashtra as well as Karnataka, Telangana and Punjab has been completely transparent.
He said that allegations of tampering of voters by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha are baseless. He said that the Congress had won under the same election system in Aland constituency in Karnataka, on which Gandhi is now raising questions.
Shinde asked, “How can one allegation of vote theft in such a constituency where the Congress party itself has won?”
He said, “If Rahul Gandhi suspects the election process, he should give an affidavit to the Election Commission and follow proper legal procedures. Only then should he make such serious allegations.”
Gandhi has given a description of the alleged efforts to remove 6,018 votes in the Aland constituency of Karnataka before the 2023 assembly elections.
He also gave an example of Rajura constituency in Maharashtra, where he claimed that 6,850 voters were added in a “fraud” manner using automated software.
Describing the allegations as “completely baseless”, Shinde said that the process of removing the name from the voter list is harsh and cannot be done in a hurry or arbitrary manner.
He further claimed that the criticisms of the Congress MP are part of a pattern.
Shinde said, “Whenever Rahul Gandhi loses the election, he doubts the honesty of the election process, questions on EVM machines, voter lists and even the credibility of the Election Commission.”
He said that EVMs were used to hold elections for the first time during the Congress -led UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He said, “Therefore, claiming that the system is now flawed, only because the Congress has lost, is unfair.”
He said that the people of Maharashtra have given unprecedented support to the BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena Mahayuti alliance and recognized the work done by the government in the last three years and the implemented welfare schemes.
He said, “It is an attempt to weaken the people’s mandate and make baseless allegations.”
Taking a sarcasm at Gandhi, Shinde said that the Congress leader had intended to “drop hydrogen bomb” during his press conference but forgot to do so.
