'Jhooth bole kauwa kaate' Fadnavis slams Rahul over vote theft claim Sapkal seeks CM's resignation

    Mumbai, Jun 24 (PTI) BJP and Congress leaders in Maharashtra on Tuesday engaged in a war of words over Rahul Gandhi's voter list manipulation allegations, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis accusing the Congress MP of lying and "shooting arrows blindly" due to the party's "humiliating defeat" in the state.
    State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged that the voter count in CM Fadnavis' Nagpur South constituency increased by eight per cent in a matter of five months, and demanded his resignation by dubbing it as an "electoral fraud".
    In a post on X, Gandhi alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra assembly polls, claiming that there weren't isolated glitches but "vote theft". He shared a media report that claimed in just six months between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra assembly polls, Nagpur South West added 29,219 new voters.

    "In Maharashtra CM's constituency, the voter list grew by 8% in just 5 months. Some booths saw a 20-50% surge. BLOs reported unknown individuals casting votes," the Leader of Opposition said in his post.
    Reacting sharply, Fadnavis used a Hindi proverb to mock Gandhi's claims and cited specific constituencies to counter the charge of discrepancies in the voter list.
    "Jhooth bole kauwa kaate, kaale kauwe se dariyo'... Rahul Gandhi, I understand the sting of your humiliating defeat in Maharashtra is intensifying by the day. But how long will you keep shooting arrows blindly?" Fadnavis wrote on X.
The CM pointed out that more than 25 constituencies in Maharashtra saw over 8 per cent increase in voter numbers between the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, and in many of these, the Congress or its allies emerged victorious.
    "In West Nagpur, next to my own South West seat, voter count rose by 7 per cent (27,065), and Congress candidate Vias Thakre won. In North Nagpur, there was a 7 per cent rise (29,348 voters), and the Congress' Nitin Raut secured victory," he said.

"In Vadgaon Sheri (Pune), voter numbers jumped by 10 per cent (50,911), and Bapu Pathare from the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won. In Malad West, the increase was 11 per cent (38,625), and your own party's Aslam Shaikh was elected. In Mumbra, there was a 9 per cent increase (46,041), and Jitendra Awhad from the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) won," he wrote in the post.
Taking a dig at Gandhi's communication style, Fadnavis said the Congress leader should have spoken to his long-time colleagues Aslam Shaikh, Vikas Thakre, or Nitin Raut before making his opinion public.
"This way, you wouldn't have exposed the Congress party's lack of internal communication so embarrassingly," he said.
    Sapkal demanded Fadnavis' resignation, saying the 8 per cent rise in voters in five months in his Nagpur South West constituency was "electoral fraud".
The state Congress chief alleged that evidence continues to emerge daily suggesting that the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance came to power in Maharashtra by manipulating votes during the 2024 state assembly elections.
    "Rahul Gandhi has consistently raised the issue of electoral fraud. After the irregularities in BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule's Kamthi constituency were exposed, it has now come to light that in CM Fadnavis' Nagpur South constituency, the voter count has increased by 8 percent in just five months," he said.
    Fadnavis must take moral responsibility and resign, as the BJP's "vote rigging" has been exposed, he added.
    "The key question remains: how did the BJP alliance, which faced a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, secure a massive win in the assembly polls just five months later? During this period, the BJP, with the help of the Election Commission, manipulated the voter rolls and increased the vote count. There was an 8 per cent discrepancy between the votes recorded after 5 PM and the final figures announced the next day," Sapkal alleged.
    Meanwhile, in a post on X, the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) in Maharashtra said as informed by the Election Commission of India already, electoral rolls are shared with all recognised political parties.

    "During 2nd Special Summary Revision-2024, which was taken up before the General Elections to Maharashtra Assembly-2024, the copies of draft and final electoral rolls of all 288 ACs were provided to representatives of all recognised political parties including INC (Dates of handing over the rolls to INC can be seen in the attachment)," the office said.

"Between draft and final publication of rolls, 19,27,508 claims and objections were received for consideration. As per law, appeal can be filed against wrongful additions or deletions in the Electoral Rolls. Only 89 Appeals were received," it said.
    BJP MLC Prasad Lad also rubbished Gandhi's allegations, saying his claims were a "result of frustration" within the Congress.
    Talking to reporters here, BJP's Lad said, "This is a reflection of Congress and Rahul Gandhi's frustration. They are unable to return to power, and even if they do, they cannot retain it. They have no issues to take to the people."
    "Is it even possible for voter numbers in a specific area to jump so drastically? One must verify the voter registration and turnout figures," he said.
    "If the national leader goes public with such unverified claims, it is ridiculous. These people probably need psychological treatment," he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)