BENGALURU: With Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi continuing his tirade against the Election Commission of India (ECI), senior BJP leaders from the state on Thursday dared Congress leaders to submit an affidavit to ECI along with evidence backing their “vote theft” allegation or go to a court of law.
“Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ drama is nothing but a Congress ploy to attack the ECI and insult the mandate of the people,” BJP state president BY Vijayendra said in response to Congress leaders’ allegations that attempts had been made to delete names of voters in Kalaburagi district’s Aland Assembly constituency ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
Vijayendra said in 2018, the BJP got 76,815 (47.83%) votes and the Congress 76,118 (47.39%) in Aland. In 2023, the BJP got 79,160 (45.34%) votes and the Congress 89,508 (51.27%). The data shows Congress’s vote share rose while BJP’s dipped.“The people of Aland gave their mandate to the Congress and the BJP accepted it.
But the Congress, blinded by entitlement after repeated electoral defeats, refuses to believe that people can reject it. That is why Rahul Gandhi invents conspiracy theories and cries ‘vote chori’. If the Congress genuinely believes there is an issue, let it submit an affidavit with evidence to the ECI or go to court,” he said.
Vijayendra said neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Congress is interested in truth or accountability. For Congress leaders, politics begins and ends with lies. Thus, eroding the credibility of Constitutional institutions such as ECI, he added.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka said that by reading out a prepared statement, Rahul Gandhi has become a laughing stock.
After realising that his allegations of poll irregularities in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Bengaluru turned out to be bogus, he started talking about the alleged irregularities in the Aland constituency.
Ashoka told reporters that Congress leaders speak about election irregularities in front of the media without any proof. Irregularities took place during the Assembly elections in the Malur constituency.
The Congress MLA’s election from Malur has been set aside. Congress leaders should first talk about it. Knowing that they will lose Bihar, Congress leaders have started making such allegations in advance. If they had any evidence, they should have spoken about it in Parliament, Ashoka said.