Rahul Gandhi’s new vote theft allegations regarding Haryana Assembly elections made a lot of headlines. But the BJP termed Rahul Gandhi’s claims as “false and baseless” and accused the Congress leader of hiding his failures and raising questions on the Election Commission (EC) to defame India’s democracy.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also accused Gandhi of trying to instigate Generation Z and said such attempts will never succeed, as the youth of India are so intelligent that they will not fall for such provocations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s reply came hours after Gandhi, citing Haryana’s voter list data, claimed that 25 lakh entries were “fake” and that last year’s election victory in the state was “stolen” from the Congress.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha said he had “100 per cent” evidence of the corruption alleged by him.
Rijiju rejected Gandhi’s allegations as “baseless and false” and said he was alleging vote theft in the Haryana elections and misusing the Election Commission, while his party colleagues said the Congress lost the election due to its own reasons.
“During the Haryana elections, their senior leader Kumari Shailaja had said that the Congress would not win because Haryana Congress leaders wanted to see the party lose,” he said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters.
Rijiju claimed, “Three days ago a former Congress minister resigned from the party and said that Congress lost the Haryana elections because its leaders were not working and were engaged in ensuring the party’s defeat.”
He said that Haryana Congress President Rao Narendra Singh had also said that there is no coordination at the grassroots level in the party.
Terming Gandhi’s allegations as “meaningless and illogical”, Rijiju alleged that Congress leaders have been repeatedly claiming vote theft to hide their failures and are now making “baseless” claims of irregularities in the Haryana elections to divert public attention.
The BJP leader said, “Voting is going to be held in Bihar in two days and he is telling the story of Haryana. It is clear from this that there is nothing left (for Congress) in Bihar. That is why he has brought the issue of Haryana to divert the public’s attention.”
The Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that unlike Congress, BJP wins elections due to the hard work of its workers and leaders.
He said, “At the time of elections, he goes abroad. During the Parliament session, Rahul Gandhi quietly goes to Cambodia and Thailand. When the election campaign was going on in Bihar, he went to Colombia.”
The BJP leader said, “This man misuses our country, system, judiciary, democratic institutions by going abroad. When he does not go to the people and keeps traveling abroad, he is sure to lose the election.”
He said, “Rahul Gandhi cannot work hard and go among the people. He is not a person who can live with people. He has never seen farming, but he pretends for a picture with the farmers. He has never caught fish, but he pretends to catch fish for a picture. This habit of getting photographed cannot help in winning elections.”
Rijiju said if there is any irregularity in voting or voter list then a complaint should be lodged with the Election Commission or the court should be approached.
“But he does not need to file any appeal before the Election Commission or approach the court. He (Gandhi) will just call a press conference, give a presentation made by someone else and run away,” he said. He asked, “Is this how democracy should work?”
The BJP leader also accused Gandhi of “playing games” with “anti-India” forces and instigating “Generation Z” to defame the country and its democratic system.
He said, “He talks about Generation Z. But the people of our country are sensible. The young generation is standing strongly with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji.”
Rijiju said people are standing strongly with Modi as under his leadership India is the fastest growing economy with a growth rate of more than 7 per cent, while economies in other parts of the world are going through recession.
He said, “Our young generation is standing with Modiji. The game that Rahul Gandhi is playing to mislead them and is conspiring with anti-India forces will never succeed.”
The BJP leader alleged that by raising the “fake” issue of vote theft, Gandhi was not only targeting the Election Commission but also the credibility of the country’s institutions.
He said, “This is a well-planned conspiracy. There are many forces in the country and abroad who are using Rahul Gandhi and some others like him as their pawns to damage the image of India and its growing strength. Rahul Gandhi is a prominent face among them.”
