Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of vote theft were meaningless and asserted the opposition party came up with such issues only after electoral reverses. Earlier in the day, Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who "destroyed democracy" and cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections. He also alleged voters were added in a fraudulent manner using automated software in Rajura seat.
"There is no meaning in what Rahul Gandhi says. They (Opposition) had no problem in the last Lok Sabha elections when the Maha Vikas Aghadi won 31 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra. Only after they lose, they come up with claims of irregularities," Pawar told reporters at the airport ahead of the NCP's 'Chintan Shivir' in Nagpur on September 19. "They (INDI bloc) also won in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. Mamata Banerjee won a third term in West Bengal. The Aam Aadmi Party won two times in Delhi and once in Punjab. The NDA paid a heavy price in the Lok Sabha polls due to false narratives," Pawar said. However, the false narrative of change in Constitution was countered effectively and with the help of some very good welfare schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Mahayuti won the (2024) Maharashtra assembly polls, he added.
Maharashtra NCP president Sunil Tatkare also dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of electoral malpractice as "childish". "Rahul Gandhi is a senior Congress leader, but his comments are childish. I have been involved in elections since 1978 and have seen the process closely. Voter registration is continuous, party workers serve as BLOs, and lists are shared with every party to raise objections. Representatives sit in polling booths during voting. Perhaps Gandhi is not aware of this, or his advisors are not informing him. What exactly does he mean by vote theft? The Lok Sabha victory was accepted, but he has not been able to digest the Assembly defeat," Tatkare said
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