"If you reject evidence, tell its basis": Salman Khurshid defends Rahul Gandhi on "vote chori" allegations

"They (ECI) didn't give any answer to the evidence which was presented by Rahul Gandhi. If you reject evidence, then you tell on what basis it was done. Only to say that Rahul Gandhi is wrong is not correct," Khurshid told ANI.

Reacting to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's emotional statement in the wake of the Delhi car blast, Khushid said, "He is an elected CM of J&K and we should try to understand his thoughts on his state, the youth and future of his state."

Earlier in the day, Abdullah said that an attempt was being made to create an environment to hold Kashmiris guilty for the crimes of a handful of people who were involved in the Delhi car blast near Red Fort that claimed 15 lives and left several injured.

When asked to comment on Congress MP Shashi Tharoor praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ramnath Goenka Lecture, Khurshid said, "I am not his speech writer. You should ask him. If you want any explanation on what he said, then you should ask him."

This came after Tharoor praised PM Modi's address at Ramnath Goenka Awards, where the PM focused on overturning Macaulay's 200-year legacy of a "slave mentality" and restoring pride in India's heritage, languages, and knowledge systems.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar refused to comment on the letter written by eminent personalities lambasting Rahul Gandhi over his repeated allegations of vote theft against the ECI.

"Ask the Congress official spokesman, I am not," he said.

On 'vote chori' allegations, he said, "I have nothing to say."

When asked about Tharoor's tweet on PM Modi, Aiyar said, "Ask Shashi Tharoor. Why are you asking me?"

Over 272 eminent citizens, including 16 Judges, 123 retired bureaucrats, 14 Ambassadors, and 133 retired armed forces officers, have written an open letter condemning the repeated "assault on national constitutional authorities" by Rahul Gandhi.

The letter states that instead of offering "genuine policy alternatives," the Congress leader has resorted to "unsubstantiated accusations."Condemning earlier repeated alleged assaults on institutions such as questioning the valour of the armed forces, the fairness of the judiciary, the letter said that it is the Election Commission this time which is facing "systematic and conspiratorial attacks on its integrity and reputation."

"The Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, has repeatedly attacked the Election Commission, declaring that he has open and shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in vote theft and claimed that he has 100 per cent proof. Using unbelievably uncouth rhetoric, that what he has found is an atom bomb, and when it explodes, the EC would have no place to hide," the open letter stated.

Yet, despite such scathing accusations, there has been no formal complaint filed by him, along with the prescribed sworn affidavit, to escape his accountability for levelling unsubstantiated allegations and threatening public servants in performance of their duty, the letter added.

Criticising other groups, including "several senior figures of Congress and other political parties, leftist NGOs, ideologically opinionated scholars, and a few attention seekers in other walks of life," the letter mentioned that the accusations are an "attempt to drape political frustration in the garb of institutional crisis."

"This pattern of behaviour reflects what might be called 'impotent rage', deep anger born of repeated electoral failure and frustration, without a concrete plan to reconnect with the people," the letter states.

Multiple eminent personalities, including SP Vaid, former Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police; Former diplomat Anil Trigunayat; retired justice S N Dhingra; former Supreme Court judge Adarsh Kumar Goel; former RAW chief Sanjeev Tripathi; former NIA director Yogesh Chander Modi; former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Deepak Singhal, among others have signed the letter. (ANI)