BJP calls Congress’s ‘vote chori’ claims baseless, points to decades of electoral decline

BJP’s GVL Narasimha Rao hits back at Rahul Gandhi, citing Congress’s fall from 404 seats in 1984 to just 44 in 2014, and questions party’s alliances with former rivals.

New Delhi: Citing the steady decline in Congress’s electoral performance since 1989, when it last secured a Lok Sabha majority, the BJP has dismissed the party’s recent “vote chori” allegations as “baseless.”

BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao pointed to an analysis of past election trends, asserting that Rahul Gandhi’s claims lack merit. “These trends clearly reveal that Rahul Gandhi’s allegations are unfounded,” Rao wrote in an article. “The fact is that the Congress party has been steadily losing ground since its historic high in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, when Rajiv Gandhi achieved a landslide victory with a 49.1% vote share and 404 out of 543 seats.”

Rao further noted that the party’s worst performance came in 2014, when it secured just 44 seats with a 19.5% vote share.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, Rao asked, “Since former Prime Minister and Janata Dal founder VP Singh defeated the Congress in the 1989 elections, should he be considered ‘Vote Chor Number 1’? Given his crucial role in toppling the Congress government, is Rahul Gandhi prepared to make that claim?”

He also pointed out the irony of Congress’s present alliances. “The Samajwadi Party, which once uprooted the Congress from Uttar Pradesh, is now a key ally. Mayawati, who once projected the Congress as anti-Dalit, became its ally during the 1996 assembly polls. Why does Rahul Gandhi choose to align with such parties instead of building his own independent strength?” Rao asked.

Extending the argument to West Bengal, Rao said, “By the same reasoning, the Congress should question the Trinamool Congress. Will Rahul Gandhi summon the courage to call Marxist Jyoti Basu and Mamata Banerjee ‘Vote Chors’ ahead of the West Bengal elections next year?”