New Delhi: Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Monday again launched a scathing attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by reiterating “vote chori (theft)” allegations against it and claimed that there is a “full-scale assault on the institutional framework of India.” Gandhi made these remarks while addressing a lecture in Berlin, Germany.
During the lecture, the Lok Sabha LoP claimed that the Haryana Assembly elections in 2024 and the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024 “were not fair.” He also alleged that the Congress did not receive a “response” from the Election Commission when they flagged the issue.
“We have won elections in Telangana, Himachal Pradesh. We have been raising issues as far as the fairness of elections in India is concerned. I have done press conferences in India where we have clearly shown without a shadow of a doubt that we won the Haryana election and that we don't feel the Maharashtra elections were fair,” Gandhi said while addressing the Hertie School on “Politics Is The Art Of Listening”.
“There is a full-scale assault taking place on the institutional framework of our country. We asked direct questions to the Election Commission. A Brazilian woman was there on the voting list 22 times in Haryana... We did not get a response. We fundamentally believe that there is a problem with the electoral machinery in India,” he added.
The Congress MP also alleged that the BJP-led central government has “weaponised” investigating agencies. “There is a wholesale capture of our institutional framework. Our intelligence agencies, ED and CBI, have been weaponised. ED and CBI have zero cases against the BJP, and most of the political cases are against the people who oppose them,” he said.
Gandhi further claimed that those businessmen who tried to support the Congress were threatened. He said that the Congress is not fighting the BJP, but the capture of the Indian institutional structure by the saffron party.
BJP's Reaction:
The BJP hit back at the Congress MP for his remarks. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called Gandhi a leader of propoganda.
"Once again Rahul Gandhi has proven that he is not the Leader of Opposition but a Leader of Propaganda, Leader of 'Paryatan', and Leader of 'Palayan'. He makes allegations and runs away. Rahul Gandhi has perfected the art of insulting our country," Poonawalla said.
The BJP spokesperson alleged that Gandhi went abroad with an agenda to meet "anti-India agents."
"In Berlin, he has said that India's institutions have been captured. He said that nothing in India is fair... He also goes on to say that Indian people will fight against each other. He has only one agenda, that is to meet anti-India Soros' agents, whether it is to meet Ilhan Omar, Salil Shetty, who spew venom against Bharat," he stated.
