BJP's Shehzaad Poonawalla attacked Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on vote theft and EVMs in Germany, calling it 'India-bashing'. Poonawalla challenged Gandhi's allegations and accused him of defaming India on foreign soil after electoral losses.
Poonawalla slams Rahul's 'India-bashing' remarks
BJP Spokesperson Shehzaad Poonawalla lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks about the future of India and vote theft, in a press conference on Tuesday, calling his statements "an example of India-bashing" for levelling allegations on the Indian democratic system on foreign soil.
Poonawalla alleged that Rahul Gandhi is often seen meeting with "anti-India thinking people." "The same Rahul Gandhi, who is sometimes seen with people associated with organisations having anti-India thinking, sometimes secretly meets those spewing poison against the country regarding Kashmir, and sometimes goes and stands on platforms that defame India," he said.
BJP defends EVMs, electoral process
Challenges 'baseless' claims
He went on to counter Rahul Gandhi's claims about vote-theft and manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines in India.
Poonawalla challenged Gandhi to provide details of the woman Gandhi claimed had voted 200 times in the Haryana elections. "Rahul Gandhi said that one woman has voted 200 times in the Haryana elections. He didn't say that her name emerged 200 times; he said she had voted 200 times. He also said that a woman called Shakun Rani voted twice... I want to challenge Rahul Gandhi to give out the details of the woman and how she voted 200 times...," Poonawalla stated, calling Gandhi's remarks outlandish and baseless.
Questions Congress's 'hypocrisy'
He further questioned his opposition to the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls. "When the issue of voter lists and vote theft arose, he was asked many times if the EVMs themselves are faulty, then why the excuse of the voter list? Any sensible person would ask If manipulation is happening in EVMs, then why the ruckus over the voter list?" Poonawalla stated.
Responding to Gandhi's allegation of EVM manipulation leading to an increase in the number of votes for the BJP, Poonawalla questioned his contentment over Congress's victory in a recent local body election, carried out using the same EVMs.
He further slammed Rahul Gandhi for complaining over the BJP's victories, while glorifying Congress. "Whether it is Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana, or Jammu-Kashmir--wherever Congress or the opposition won, the EVMs were fine there. In the Lok Sabha elections too, the EVMs were fine. But when they lose the elections, when nothing remains to answer, then they start blaming the EVM," Poonawalla said.
Cites Supreme Court, allies' faith in EVMs
The Supreme Court, in 2024, had critically called the tendency of political parties to question the integrity of the EVMs only after an electoral defeat a hypocritical approach.
Refering to the ruling, Poonawalla questioned Rahul Gandhi's belief in his allied party's members who have expressed their faith in the EVMs. "If Rahul Gandhi does not have faith in the Supreme Court, then does he not have faith in his allies either? Omar Abdullah has openly said that he does not blame the EVM. NCP's Supriya Sule said in Parliament that she has won elections through EVMs many times, so how can she call it wrong," Poonawalla said.
Poonawalla recalls Congress's history of electoral corruption
Addressing Rahul Gandhi's remarks questioning the fairness of the Indian electoral process, Poonawalla listed the history of alleged rigged elections during the Congress reign. "In 1975, Indira Gandhi was found guilty of electoral corruption. The 1987 Jammu-Kashmir elections are still counted among the most rigged elections in the country. In the 1990s, booth capturing before elections was a common thing. Many senior leaders of the Congress itself have accepted on different platforms how rigging used to happen in elections during that era," he stated, dismissing Rahul Gandhi's authority to question India's democratic system.
He further slammed Rahul Gandhi for defaming India on foreign land, calling it "his real face." "This is the real face of Rahul Gandhi--to go abroad and defame India after losing in the country," the BJP Spokesperson said.
Rahul Gandhi's allegations on foreign soil
BJP Spokesperson's remarks come after Rahul Gandhi, at a gathering in the Hertie School in Berlin, Germany, reiterated his allegation that the BJP is "capturing" the country's institutional framework, terming it an "attack" on the democratic system. again levelled "vote theft" allegations on the Government of India, pointing out the duplicate voters in the voter list.
Claiming that the Congress won the Haryana Assembly elections in 2024 and the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024 "were not fair", Lok Sabha LoP shared that their party did not receive a "response" from the Election Commission when they flagged the issue. "We have won elections in Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. We have been raising issues as far as the fairness of elections in India is concerned. I have done press conferences in India where we have clearly shown without a shadow of a doubt that we won the Haryana election and that we don't feel the Maharashtra elections were fair. There is a full-scale assault taking place on the institutional framework of our country. We asked direct questions to the Election Commission," Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi also alleged that the Centre has "weaponised" investigating agencies, suggesting a quid pro quo in which businessmen in India financially support the BJP rather than Opposition parties. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)