CM Fadnavis Slams Rahul Gandhi Over Poll Results Claims, Says 'Congress Setting Narrative Before...'

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis dismisses Rahul Gandhi's claims of electoral fraud, stating that the Election Commission has refuted them.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hits back at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's remark on the electoral fraud in last year's Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Fadnavis said, as quoted by news agency ANI,"Election Commission has categorically replied to all the questions. Rahul Gandhi is doing a cover fire as he knows that after the February 8, Delhi Election results, his party will be nowhere in Delhi and hence, what he will speak on that day, how he will create a new narrative, he is practising for the same. If Rahul Gandhi does not introspect and will continue to console himself with lies - his party's revival isn't possible. Rahul Gandhi should introspect his defeat."

The Election Commission of India (ECI), in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said , "ECI considers political parties, as priority stakeholders, of course the voters being the prime & deeply values views, suggestions, questions coming from political parties. Commission would respond in writing with full factual & procedural matrix uniformly adopted across the country."

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi addressed a joint press conference of the MVA and said there were more registered voters in Maharashtra than the entire voting population of Maharashtra.

"In 5 years between the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2019 and Lok Sabha, 2024 -  32 lakh voters were added. However, in period of 5 months between Lok Sabha 2024 which these parties (Congress, NCP-SCP, Shiv Sena (UBT) won and Vidhan Sabha elections - 39 lakh voters were added," Gandhi said. 

He added, "The question is, who are these 39 lakh voters? That is equivalent to the total number of voters of Himachal Pradesh. The second point is, why there are more voters in Maharashtra than the entire voting population of the state?... Somehow, the voters have been suddenly created in Maharashtra."

He further said that the number of voters in favour of the MVA parties — Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar) — had not reduced since the Lok Sabha elections, in which the alliance fared better than the Mahayuti. Citing the example of a constituency, Gandhi said: "The Congress got 1.36 lakh in Lok Sabha polls and 1.34 lakh votes in Vidhan Sabha. But BJP got 1.9 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls; in Vidhan Sabha, they got 1.75 lakh votes. Most of those who voted for the BJP were newly added to the electoral rolls," he alleged.