Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fresh allegations of irregularities in voters’ list, including in an assembly segment in Maharashtra, triggered a war of words between the ruling and Opposition parties, with the latter on Thursday demanding Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ resignation.
Opposition NCP (SP) said Gandhi’s charges raised a question mark over the integrity of the Election Commission of India of India (ECI), and sought an independent inquiry by the poll body into them.
Accusing the ECI of double standards, the Congress demanded CM Fadnavis’ resignation, saying he had no moral right to continue in office after Gandhi exposed “vote theft” in the Rajura assembly constituency of Chandrapur district.
Taking forward his “vote theft” claims, Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commission of Indiaer Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who “destroyed democracy” and cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.
He also gave the example of the Rajura seat, where he claimed voters were added in a fraudulent manner using automated software.
Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said allegations made by Gandhi over large-scale deletion of names from electoral rolls were “serious in nature” and warrant an independent probe.
In a Statement posted on X, he said the Congress MP has demonstrated how names in the electoral rolls are being removed through dubious means, raising questions over the integrity of the ECI.
“How did these name-deleters get access to an individual’s voter ID account? How can the ECI’s portal be hacked so easily? Or is someone in the ECI complicit? These are the questions that need to be answered by the ECI and the central Government,” Crasto said.
The allegations are getting “serious by the day” but the poll body does not appear to have valid answers, he said.
“The ECI must hold an independent inquiry and present the truth and facts to the people of India,” he added. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Harshal Pradhan said Gandhi was doing an “excellent work of exposing the real face of the BJP”.