BJP 'robbed' electoral process; it is a ploy to destroy democracy, claims Harshwardhan Sapkal

Pune: Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Monday accused the ruling BJP of "robbing the electoral process" through vote theft, alleging that it was a ploy to "destroy democracy" in the country.

Following Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's claim of poll rigging last week, the Congress has launched a web portal for people to register and demand accountability from the poll panel against what it called "vote chori", and express support for the demand for digital voter rolls.

Gandhi has cited data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to claim over 1 lakh votes were "stolen" through five types of manipulation in an assembly segment in Karnataka. He had also alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly poll results confirmed the Congress's suspicion that the election was 'stolen'.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has pressed Gandhi to sign a declaration to substantiate his claims.

Talking to reporters, Sapkal said, "The Maharashtra assembly elections last year exposed this theft. What is democracy? It is its people, the right to vote given to them, and the principle of one person, one vote. The BJP robbed the entire electoral process by committing vote chori. This is their ploy to destroy democracy. A do-or-die situation now prevails in the country, and all opposition parties and citizens should oppose this tooth and nail."

He claimed the ECI's notice to Gandhi over his "vote chori" remark is like "a thief reprimanding a cop".

Sapkal was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day workshop organised in Pune to provide orientation and training to newly appointed Congress functionaries in the state, in the presence of the party's senior leadership.

The senior leader further dismissed the talk of Congress leaders joining the BJP as "propaganda".

"The party's base is built by its workers and strong leadership. The BJP is like a witch that feeds on Congress workers. In their bid for a 'Congress-mukt Bharat', they forget their party is filling up with former Congress members. If the chief minister looks at his cabinet, he will find more than half of the ministers are from the Congress," he claimed.

The BJP boasts of leaders like PM Narendra Modi, but is poaching workers from other parties, he alleged.

"This shows your leadership is not capable enough. The poaching also proves BJP's core leaders and workers have no future," Sapkal claimed.

Senior Congress leaders Babasaheb Thorat, Vijay Vadettiwar, Satej Patil and Vishwajeet Kadam were present for the orientation workshop.

According to party officials, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to address the workshop via video link.