GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 19th Sept: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP and Maharashtra party president Sunil Tatkare on Friday strongly criticised Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his recent allegations of large-scale “vote theft,” dismissing his claims as “childish” and lacking understanding of how polling booths function.
Speaking to reporters, Tatkare argued that Gandhi’s remarks show little knowledge of booth-level operations and the electoral roll verification process.
“This is a childish statement of the Leader of Opposition, he has no idea of the local or booth level,” Tatkare remarked.
He further highlighted that electoral rolls are constantly updated through a transparent system where objections and suggestions are considered before the final list is published.
“Electoral roll is being modified all the while, and while it is published at a certain time, objections and suggestions can be taken,” he said.
Booth-Level Accountability Questioned
Tatkare also raised doubts over Gandhi’s allegations by pointing out that booth-level officers and block officers are chosen from every party. “As per him, his people were present too. Does he believe that they, too, were involved in that activity? This is the question I want to ask,” he added, questioning the credibility of Gandhi’s charges.
Rahul Gandhi’s Aland Claim
The Congress MP had on Thursday alleged that more than 6,000 votes were deliberately deleted in Karnataka’s Aland constituency during the 2023 elections. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi claimed the malpractice was caught only by coincidence when a booth-level officer noticed that her uncle’s name had been removed.
“In Aland, Karnataka, 6,018 votes, somebody tried to delete these votes. We don’t know the total number of votes deleted in the 2023 elections, but somebody got caught,” Gandhi alleged. He also accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of “protecting vote chors (vote thieves)” and asserted he had “10 per cent proof” of the CEC’s complicity.
ECI and Political Leaders Respond
The Election Commission of India (ECI) swiftly rejected Gandhi’s claims, calling them “baseless and incorrect.” The Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka clarified that no vote deletions can be made online by the public and added that all incorrect applications in the Aland case had been rejected, with an FIR filed in 2023.
Meanwhile, several leaders across party lines also lashed out at Gandhi. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the Congress leader’s much-hyped “hydrogen bomb” on electoral fraud as a “dud.”
“Rahul Gandhi lies with such clarity. To continuously lie in front of the national media like this is an art that only Rahul Gandhi has,” Fadnavis said.
Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao echoed similar criticism, calling Gandhi’s press conference a “big joke.” He said, “Rahul Gandhi proved that he is a joker. His allegations are false and childish, based on nothing but random claims.”
Political Storm Ahead of Polls
The sharp political exchanges come at a time when the Election Commission is conducting special electoral roll revisions in several states ahead of key assembly elections later this year. Gandhi’s repeated allegations of “vote chori” have become a rallying point for the Opposition but are drawing strong pushback from both the BJP and regional parties like the NCP.
As the debate intensifies, the controversy over electoral transparency is set to remain a major flashpoint in the political discourse leading into the polls.
