Shiv Sena's Naresh Mhaske terms Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" remarks "childish"

Mhaske said that the opposition won more seats during Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra.

"During Lok Sabha Elections, they won seats. If we wanted to do some rigging, why did we not do that during Lok Sabha elections? Those elections were important for us. But they have lost, so they are levelling allegations. This is childish. Why do we need to pay attention to that?," he told ANI.

Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, on Thursday made "vote chori" allegations.

Presenting Congress' research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes. He said the Congress led in all assembly segments of except Mahadevapura, where BJP got a huge lead.

"Our internal polling told us we would win 16 seats in Karnataka; we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We focused on Mahadevapur...All data is 2024 data from the Election Commission; the total votes polled in the Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakhs. The BJP won with 6,58,915, securing a margin of 32,707. But then we look at Mahadevapura, where Congress polls 1,15,586 and BJP polls 2,29,632. Congress wins all Vidhan Sabhas but this one," the Congress leader said.

"We found 1,00,250 votes stolen. Stolen in five different ways. Duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address, on a building with 50-60 people living. But when we go there, no record of those people living there. One family living in that house," he added.

Responding to the allegations, the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka wrote to the Lok Sabha LoP and called on him to submit a declaration under Rule 20(3)(b) of Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the names of alleged duplicate voters to initiate proceedings.

"It is understood that during a Press Conference held today (August 7), you had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the Electoral Rolls cited at Para 3. You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed Declaration/Oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the name(s) of such elector(s) so that necessary proceedings can be initiated," the Karnataka CEO said.

"As you are aware, the electoral rolls are prepared in a transparent manner, as per the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 and the instructions issued by the Election Commission of India from time to time," the state's CEO added. (ANI)