"Rahul Gandhi is troubled by electoral defeats": Maharashtra BJP chief on election rigging allegations

Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], June 7 : Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his allegation of election rigging in the Maharashtra polls, saying that he is "troubled by electoral defeats".
"Rahul Gandhi is troubled by electoral defeats. With these defeats, he keeps making such allegations to hide his own performance and the performance of his party. If I ask Rahul Gandhi, when elections occurred in 2009 when there were governments of his party at the Centre and in the State, there were 7.29 crore voters in Maharashtra during Lok Sabha elections," Bawankule told ANI.
"After that, Maharashtra Assembly elections took place, and there were 7.59 crore voters. So, will we target the then Election Commission? Will we abuse the then Election Commission? You are criticising such a big institution. You want to damage the election process. I think this is a childish move," he added.
Bawankule said that Rahul Gandhi should first study everything, sit with Congress workers and then speak.
"I think, if Congress and Rahul Gandhi keep acting like this, they will never be able to win. They are now disappointed because Maha Vikas Aghadi is falling apart in Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray is going around with his own alliance, and Sharad Pawar is running his own agenda. So, Congress is fearful in Maharashtra, whether their parties (alliance parties) will continue. So, Rahul Gandhi is building a narrative in view of the upcoming Panchayat elections in Maharashtra," he said.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Election Commission described Rahul Gandhi's allegations relating to Maharashtra polls as an "affront to the rule of law".
"Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the electoral rolls of Maharashtra are affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on ECI's website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again," ECI said.
"Any misinformation being spread, by anyone, is not only a sign of disrespect towards the Law, but also brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by their own political party and demotivates lakhs of election staff who work untiringly and transparently during elections. After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd," it added.