Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal Sunday said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s counter to Rahul Gandhi’s claims of “matchfixing” in the 2024 Maharashtra elections was “superficial” and “laughable”. He also demanded a narco test on Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam and then-additional CEO Kiran Kulkarni.
In an opinion piece for The Indian Express Saturday, Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said the total electors in Maharashtra had increased more between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections than between the 2019 and 2024 Assembly polls. He alleged that most of the additional electors were in 85 constituencies where the BJP had not done well in the Lok Sabha polls.
In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition, which includes the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, secured a total of 235 seats. The BJP alone won 132 seats for its best performance in the state. In contrast, the opposition coalition, Maha Vikas Aghadi, composed of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), was only able to win 46 seats.
Replying to Gandhi, Fadnavis, in another opinion piece for The Indian Express, said the Congress leader was rejecting the people’s mandate after they rejected him and his party.
Sapkal said, “Leader of Opposition (in Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi has raised some critical questions on the electoral process of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. However, instead of the Election Commission responding, it is the BJP and CM Devendra Fadnavis who have jumped in with a counter-article. His reply, however, is laughable and an evasive attempt to distract the public,” said Sapkal.
Sapkal slammed Fadnavis, saying he should stop acting like a “judicial icon”. “His responses are weak, superficial, and fail to address the actual questions,” said Sapkal, adding that Fadnavis is a “compulsive liar”.
On Chockalingam and Kulkarni, Sapkal said, “These officers were at the helm when voter scam took place in Maharashtra Assembly elections. To expose the truth behind the alleged vote theft in Maharashtra, these officers must be subjected to a narco test.”
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“Every issue Rahul Gandhi has raised over the years has proven to be correct with time. He warned of the China threat, and now the dragon is encroaching on India. He warned that demonetisation would devastate the economy and lower GDP, and it did. He alerted the nation to the dangers of Covid-19 when the BJP government ignored it, and the country paid a heavy price,” said Sapkal.
“Today, questions are being raised over the transparency and integrity of the Election Commission’s conduct. These are questions of democratic survival, and it is the Commission’s duty to answer them. Instead, it remains silent, denies CCTV footage, and quietly changes the rules,” Sapkal added.
On the EC’s criticism that Gandhi was going to the media, Sapkal said, “Does the Election Commission deny that the media is the fourth pillar of democracy? The questions raised by the Congress and Rahul Gandhi deserve factual, objective responses from the Commission.”
Meanwhile, EC sources Sunday said Gandhi had not written to the body or sought a meeting so far and that the Commission would respond when he does.
