MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dubbed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as a "serial liar" while rejecting the latter's allegations of "vote theft" against the BJP.
These "lies" of Opposition leaders are only meant to convince themselves, Fadnavis told reporters here.
"I have said it earlier also that Rahul Gandhi is a serial liar. He has been spreading lies relentlessly. It pains me to see that even some leaders from Maharashtra have suddenly realised that Rahul Gandhi is speaking the truth," he said.
Responding to Gandhi's charge that votes were "stolen" by the BJP, the CM said false information never has any foundation.
"A fort built on lies crashes. Unless they realise that to win the votes of people, one has to go to the people and earn their trust, their lies are only meant to convince themselves," the senior BJP leader said.
Gandhi has alleged that votes were stolen in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana, and that attempts were being made to "steal" votes of the people in Bihar, ahead of the upcoming assembly polls there, by the ruling BJP at the Centre in collusion with the Election Commission.
Soon after the CM's comments, Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal launched a sharp attack on Fadnavis, saying he is obsessed with the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
"Just as the Mughals always saw Dhanaji and Santaji, Fadnavis sees Rahul Gandhi day and night. The real liars are in Delhi, while Maharashtra has a 'Thief Minister'," Sapkal said while talking to reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
He was referring to brave Maratha generals Dhanaji Jadhav and Santaji Ghorpade, who took on the Mughal soldiers.
Some of the other Opposition parties, including the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), have also raised the issue of "vote theft" and asked their party workers to check the electoral rolls to assess bogus voters.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has also said he had been talking about "vote theft" since 2016, and the Election Commission should have conducted a probe when both Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Anurag Thakur alleged voter list fraud.
CM Fadnavis on Sunday said leaders alleging vote theft were doing so to provide solace to their workers for their defeat in polls instead of introspecting about their loss.