Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing him of consistently misunderstanding the country's mood and misplacing blame.
Speaking to mediapersons in Hindi, Fadnavis said, "Ta-umr Rahul Gandhi aap yahi galti karte rahe, dhool chehre pe thi aur aap aina saaf karte rahe" (Throughout your life, Rahul Gandhi, you have always made the same mistake; the dust was on your face, but you kept cleaning the mirror).
Earlier in the day, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, strongly backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing the BJP of hijacking constitutional institutions under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.
Speaking to the mediapersons on Sunday, Tejashwi said, "Ever since Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister, all constitutional institutions have been hijacked. Before the ECI announces the elections, the BJP IT Cell knows the schedule. We have our eyes on everything. The constitutional institutions must carry out their duties honestly... Everyone needs to stay alert. Everyone knows that all institutions work as a proxy of the BJP." "Everyone is working together, not to form the government, but to strengthen Bihar," he added.
The statement came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called upon the Election Commission to publish consolidated, digital, machine-readable voter rolls for the most recent elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas of all states, including Maharashtra. Gandhi said that "telling the truth" will protect the poll panel's credibility.
Earlier on Saturday, in a post on X, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, referred to the ECI's response to his allegations concerning the Maharashtra polls and said, "releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions." In response, ECI described Rahul Gandhi's Maharashtra election poll rigging as "unsubstantiated allegations."
"Unsubstantiated allegations against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024, which is available on ECI's website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues repeatedly," it said.
"Any misinformation being spread, by anyone, is not only a sign of disrespect towards the Law, but also brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by their political party and demotivates lakhs of election staff who work untiringly and transparently during elections. After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd," it added.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
