Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fresh allegations of vote manipulation as “baseless,” stating that omissions from voter lists have occurred during Congress regimes as well, reported news agency PTI.
The Republican Party of India (A) chief said, “Rahul Gandhi often makes contradictory statements, sometimes he says voters were added, and other times he claims voter deletions.”
Earlier in the day, Gandhi, who currently serves as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of shielding those responsible for “destroying democracy.” He cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency, alleging that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically removed ahead of elections.
In response, Athawale said that names disappearing from electoral rolls is not new and has also occurred under Congress-led governments in the past.
“This problem did not arise during the current government,” said the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.
The Election Commission has clarified that the names of the voters cannot be deleted online, Athawale said, adding that it is not the case that only the names of those who vote for the Opposition go missing, reported news agency PTI.
If Gandhi has any evidence, he should provide it to the Election Commission, he said, asserting that names are not deleted from voter lists deliberately.
As to Gandhi`s claim that voters from OBC, minority and tribal communities were being deleted, Athawale said it was a divisive tactic meant to create rifts in society.
In Maharashtra, most Dalit votes now go to the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, and tribal and Dalit communities have supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi ever since he came to power, he said.
The BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have chief ministers from the OBC and tribal communities, respectively, while there is a Brahmin chief minister in Rajasthan, said Athawale, himself a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra.
“Ghuspaithiya Bachao Yatra”: Amit Shah targets Rahul Gandhi over `Voter Adhikar Yatra`
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday lambasted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the allegation of `vote theft`, calling his `Voter Adhikar Yatra` a “Ghuspaithiya Bachao Yatra” (Save the Infiltrators March).
Interacting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Rohtas, the Union Minister accused the Congress party of ignoring development issues and instead working to protect “illegal infiltrators” from Bangladesh.
Addressing the gathering, Shah said, “They (Congress) spread a false narrative every time. Rahul Gandhi did a Yatra… The topic of his yatra was not vote theft. The topic was not good education, employment, electricity, roads… The topic of the tour was saving the infiltrators who have come from Bangladesh. Have any of you lost their votes?… This was Rahul Gandhi`s `Ghuspaithiya Bachao Yatra`.”
Questioning the relevance of the Congress`s yatra, Shah asked, “Should infiltrators have the right to vote or free rations? Should infiltrators get jobs, houses, treatment up to 5 lakh rupees?… Instead of our youth, this Rahul Baba and company are giving jobs to vote bank infiltrators.”
(With inputs from agencies)
