Cong says Maharashtra SIR deletions validate Rahul's 'vote chori', rigged polls claim

After over 2.06 crore voters were excluded from Maharashtra's electoral rolls under SIR, the Congress on Monday alleged that the charges made out by Rahul Gandhi on 'vote chori' and 'rigged' elections were real.

Congress media and publicity head Pawan Khera questioned why the BJP and ECI had expressed "complete confidence" in the 2024 voter list even when the Congress had flagged abnormally high voter additions within just five months.

He said, "The BJP-ECI's lies are now hanging like an albatross around their neck."

Khera said nearly 2 crore voters have been excluded from Maharashtra's electoral roll under the SIR and the ECI itself had acknowledged that nearly 40 lakh electors were added in just five months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

In a post on X, Khera claimed that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress flagged this abnormal increase at the time. But the BJP and ECI dismissed those concerns and expressed complete confidence in the voter list, he noted.

"Now two years later, given the large number of deletions in the SIR, the BJP-ECI duo has stripped its own lies naked before the country.

"Crucial questions arise: If the voter list was impeccable just two years ago, why are nearly 2 crore voters being excluded now? If it wasn't beyond reproach, why did the BJP-ECI insist so confidently that it was?" he questioned.

"And what does this faulty voter list from two years ago say about the legitimacy of Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister and the BJP as Maharashtra’s ruling party?

"The writing is on the wall: Vote chori is real. Rigged elections are real. Imposed governments are real," the Congress leader alleged.