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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday launched a veiled attack against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and the opposition for alleging "vote theft" in the assembly elections, and said that they can't win the polls while lying to people and insulting them.
"They are just trying to console their own hearts and were attempting to tell their workers that they were indeed winning, that there was a conspiracy in their defeat, so that the workers don't scatter. Until they do self-introspection on their defeat, they won't win. Until they stop lying and insulting people, they cannot win," Fadnavis told reporters here. His remarks come after Raj Thackeray on Saturday extended support to Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of "vote theft". Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut today alleged that the BJP-led Mahayuti government came to power through "vote theft" and claimed the issue is now being raised at the "national and international level." Speaking to reporters, Raut said, "...The issue of vote theft has been in Maharashtra for 8 months; we have been raising questions on this. This issue was raised by Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and Congress. Devendra Fadnavis' government came to power only through such vote theft. Where did our votes go? This question was asked by Raj Thackeray, and we also asked it. Now this issue of theft has been raised by Rahul Gandhi at the national level and is being taken to the international level..." Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi, in a fresh attack on the Election Commission and the BJP, described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar as an "institutionalised way" of stealing votes. Addressing a press conference in Araria in Bihar during the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', the Congress leader alleged a partnership between the ECI and the BJP." In Bihar, SIR is an institutionalised way for vote theft. Lakhs of voters' names were deleted; the Opposition is complaining, but the BJP has not complained even once because there is a partnership between the Election Commission, the Election Commissioner and the BJP," Rahul Gandhi claimed. The 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', covering 1,300 km across 20 districts, has been launched by the opposition parties to flag the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise in Bihar, which they claim is an attempt at vote chori (vote theft). The march will conclude in Patna on September 1. Bihar Assembly elections are due later this year, though the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced the schedule yet. (ANI)
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