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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sambit Patra launched a blistering counter-offensive against the opposition INDIA bloc over its "symbolic public impeachment" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the very first instance of "vote theft" in independent India was committed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to deny Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel the Prime Ministers post.
Targeting Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over allegations of electoral malpractice, Patra invoked Indias first Home Minister on his birth anniversary, remarking that historical "vote theft" was an indisputable factengineered by the Gandhi family's first member. "Today, regarding their allegation of vote theft, as Kharge ji was speaking about this issue of vote theft, I would like to tell Kharge ji: Yes, there is truth to the claim of vote theft. Vote theft did indeed take place. Today is October 31st. It is the birth anniversary of the revered Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. And if there was ever a vote theft in India, it was committed by the first member of the Gandhi family, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who stole the votes of prominent Congress leaders," Patra said during a press conference in the national capital. Taking a direct swipe at Nehru's appointment as India's first Prime Minister, Patra added, "Those leaders had cast their votes in a ballot box to elect Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as Prime Minister. By stealing those votes, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime Minister of the country, an unelected Prime Minister." Slamming the INDIA bloc's mock impeachment demonstration against the CEC, Patra claimed that the grand old party was denigrating democratic institutions through theatrics. "The drama that the Congress party is currently staging, this 'mock parliament', is, in effect, making a mockery of the Parliament itself. Let all your speakers and participants there hear this: the very first instance of vote-stealing was committed by Nehru himself," the BJP leader remarked. Addressing the opposition's claims regarding non-inclusion and removal of names from the electoral rolls, Patra defended the integrity of the Election Commission's Special Summary Revision (SIR) drive and detailed the technical 'ASDD' criteria used on the ground. "The SIR process is currently ongoing. Across various states, the names of 13 crore people have not yet been included in the final electoral roll. Why is this the case? What is this 'ASDD' formula? 'A' stands for 'Absent'," Patra explained. Elaborating on the verification protocol, he said, "There is an official known as a BLO (Booth Level Officer). The BLO is responsible for an 'enumeration form' that every individual is required to complete. The BLO visits your home three times with this form. If you are not present on any of these three occasions, you are marked as 'absent', and your name is excluded from the electoral roll. What about 'S' in 'ASDD'? It stands for 'Shifted'permanently shifted." Patra dismissed the opposition's allegations of EVM and voter roll manipulation as an alibi to distract from their consecutive electoral defeats, asserting that the revision process remains entirely transparent and rules-based. (ANI)
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