The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Member of Parliament’s (MP’s) remarks came two days after the Leader of Opposition alleged manipulation of electorate in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly Constituency, where he claimed approximately 6,000 votes were deleted
"Ninety per cent of MLAs of Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, or the BJP have become so by stealing or rigging votes,” Sanjay Raut told reporters. File pic
Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Raut on Saturday endorsed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of “vote theft” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and claimed that 90 per cent of Mahayuti legislators won due to “vote chori,” news agency ANI reported.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Member of Parliament’s (MP’s) remarks came two days after the Leader of Opposition alleged manipulation of electorate in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly Constituency, where he claimed approximately 6,000 votes were deleted. Earlier this year, Gandhi had also accused the Election Commission of deleting around 1 lakh names from the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency rolls, facilitating BJP’s alleged rigging of elections.
“Such people have been elected in Maharashtra, of whom even people are not aware they are MLAs. They became MLAs because of ‘vote chori.’ Ninety per cent of MLAs of Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, or the BJP have become so by stealing or rigging votes,” Raut told reporters.
On Thursday, Gandhi had held a press conference in New Delhi, accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting “people who are destroying Indian democracy.”
He claimed that a “certain group of people” systematically target minority voters who traditionally support the Congress.
“I am going to show the youth, the people, proof that is black and white, absolutely clear that Chief Election Commissioner of India is protecting people who have destroyed Indian democracy. I will also show you the methods by which votes are added, deleted and show you how it is done,” Gandhi had said.
He added, “In election after election, some group of people have been systematically targeting voters for deletions across India. Different communities, mainly those voting for the opposition—Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, minorities—are specifically targeted. We had heard this many times, and now we have 100 per cent proof of it. I am somebody who loves my country, Constitution, the democratic process, and I am protecting that process.”
Speaking about the Aland constituency, the Congress MP alleged that around 6,018 votes were fraudulently deleted by unknown individuals using software to impersonate real voters.
“In Aland, Karnataka, 6,018 votes—somebody tried to delete these votes. We don’t know the total number of votes deleted in the 2023 elections, but somebody got caught by coincidence. The Booth Level officer noticed that her uncle’s vote had been deleted. When she checked, she saw that her neighbour had deleted the vote,” he said.
(With ANI inputs)
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