Devendra Fadnavis Reacts To Rahul Gandhi’s Maharashtra Poll Claim: ‘Introspect And Apologise’
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urged Rahul Gandhi to “introspect and apologise” just hours after the Congress leader claimed that new voters were primarily added in constituencies where the BJP secured victories in the Maharashtra elections.
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged on Monday that approximately 70 lakh voters-equivalent to the population of Himachal Pradesh-were added to Maharashtra’s electoral rolls between the Lok Sabha and state elections.
“Introspect instead of insulting Maharashtra! You have insulted the people of Maharashtra, the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule and Veer Savarkar. You have questioned the democratic mandate given by the people of Maharashtra to the NDA just because your party was vanquished,” retorted Fadnavis. His BJP secured 132 seats, marking its best-ever performance in the state, while the Congress won only 16 seats in the November elections.
“Instead of introspection, you are indulging in slander. The people of Maharashtra won’t forgive you for this. Apologise, Rahul Gandhi!” Fadnavis added.
Speaking during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi reiterated his concerns about Maharashtra’s electoral rolls, noting that approximately 70 lakh voters-comparable to Himachal Pradesh’s population-had been added between the Lok Sabha and state elections.
“Now, I want to bring to the notice of this House some data about Maharashtra polls. Between the Lok Sabha polls, which the INDIA bloc won, and the assembly elections, the number equivalent to the population of Himachal was added to the voting rolls of Maharashtra,” Gandhi told the House, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.
“More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years,” the former Congress president remarked.
Last month, Gandhi alleged there was a “serious problem” with India’s election system and called on the Election Commission to ensure greater transparency in the electoral process.
Maintaining that “something wrong” had occurred in the Maharashtra assembly elections, he stated that the Congress and the Opposition had been requesting access to voter lists for the Maharashtra and Haryana elections, which the election body had refused to provide.
