New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday mounted a nationwide political counteroffensive against the Congress and the INDIA bloc over their allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with Chief Ministers across states accusing the Opposition of spreading misinformation to cover up electoral defeats.
The BJP leaders backed the Election Commission’s clarification that decisions relating to the SIR were taken unanimously and accused the Opposition of attempting to undermine faith in constitutional institutions.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the INDIA bloc as an “alliance of defeated people” and said Rahul Gandhi and the Congress should apologise for creating confusion over the functioning of the poll panel. He said the Opposition should introspect over repeated electoral defeats instead of questioning the Election Commission.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the Congress and its allies had spread confusion regarding the SIR and should apologise to the people.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “No votes have been stolen; Rahul Gandhi’s mind has been stolen,” while alleging that the Opposition was trying to discredit constitutional institutions and create distrust in the electoral system.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma accused the Opposition of spreading lies to conceal its electoral defeats and questioned why the Congress did not verify facts before making allegations concerning decisions taken unanimously.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said raising questions was legitimate in a democracy, but presenting an internal discussion as a final decision to malign institutions was not appropriate. He maintained that the Election Commission’s decisions were taken with complete consensus.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the Opposition, after being rejected by the people, had been left with the mission of “abusing the Prime Minister or insulting constitutional institutions”.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said Rahul Gandhi and the Congress should apologise to the country for making what she termed baseless allegations against constitutional institutions.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the Congress, which had lost more than 100 elections, was resorting to “anti-national conduct” and alleged that the campaign against the Election Commission was aimed at tarnishing the country’s image.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel accused the Congress of maintaining “double standards”, saying it celebrates the Election Commission and democracy when it wins elections but raises allegations of vote theft after defeats.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary defended the need for electoral-roll purification and said the Opposition’s allegations were baseless.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the Congress supported SIR in Kerala after winning there but opposed it in Bengal after losing.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav accused Rahul Gandhi of spreading lies, while state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal criticised the Congress for repeatedly targeting the Election Commission over SIR.
The BJP’s campaign also saw Karnataka Opposition leaders R. Ashoka and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Kerala BJP leader Anoop Antony, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Andhra Pradesh BJP leadership, Himachal Pradesh BJP president Rajeev Bindal and Jharkhand BJP president Aditya Sahu attack the Congress over the issue.
The BJP said the Election Commission’s clarification had addressed the allegations point by point and asserted that political parties should not undermine constitutional institutions to explain electoral setbacks.
(IANS)
