Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday dismissed the Opposition's allegations of “vote theft” as baseless and accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of attempting to undermine public trust in constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission to sow seeds of “anarchy and chaos”.
Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis also rejected reports of differences within the poll panel, saying all three election commissioners had clarified in a joint statement on Saturday that decisions related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were taken unanimously.
The Congress and several other parties and organisations have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after a recent investigation by The Indian Express claimed that two election commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to the poll panel's handling of the SIR process.
Dismissing the allegations of vote theft, Fadnavis said, “I want to say in very clear words that no votes were stolen. Rahul Gandhi's mind was stolen. As for that stolen mind, I would request the Prime Minister to form a committee that brings his mind back so that he speaks in the country's interest. Let him speak correctly, speak the truth.”
He accused Gandhi of seeking to discredit constitutional bodies and create doubts in people's minds about these institutions.
“By creating this situation of anarchy, he wants to make people feel that the democratic system that the Constitution established cannot give them justice,” Fadnavis claimed.
The chief minister accused Gandhi of casting doubts on several constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission, the Supreme Court, the Reserve Bank of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General.
“My question is, are the institutions created under Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution so weak that they can be eliminated?” Fadnavis said.
“Gandhi wants to bring about anarchy, and on those lines, a certain newspaper prints a news item without any evidence,” he added.
Fadnavis said the allegations against the Election Commission had been exposed after all three poll commissioners issued a joint statement.
“All three election commissioners have unequivocally said that they took all decisions collectively. All decisions were unanimous, and all the agendas were prepared and discussed, and decisions were taken. No one has a differing view about it. There is no dissent on the file either,” he said.
He alleged that Gandhi was deliberately trying to create doubts in people's minds.
“In a way, his (Gandhi's) strategy is clear: when you cannot convince people, confuse them. He wants to create this confusion. He is trying to throw the country's constitutional and democratic system into chaos by sowing confusion,” he claimed.
Fadnavis also dismissed the upcoming agitation by Opposition parties Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Cockroach Janta Party and Congress over alleged irregularities in the SIR process.
He cited the West Bengal election, saying the number of voters had fallen sharply in 15 constituencies because of the SIR, yet the Trinamool Congress won those seats.
Asked about NDA allies such as Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan and Telugu Desam Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu demanding clarification on the SIR issue, Fadnavis said that if allegations were made against the Election Commission every day, it was natural for the poll panel to issue a clarification.
(With inputs from PTI)
