Fadnavis accuses Congress of indulging in 'vote chori', Prithviraj Chavan in the dock after BJP MLA's claims

The Maharashtra CM alleged that family members of senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan were involved in voting in more than one place.

Mumbai: Turning tables, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday accused the Congress of ‘vote chori’ amid allegations that family members and associates of senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan were involved in voting in more than one place.

The 79-year-old former Maharashtra Chief Minister, who was a minister in Prime Minister’s Office in Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, is considered close to the Gandhi family. 

The allegation was made by BJP MLA Dr Atul Bhosale, who had defeated Chavan, from the Karad South seat in Satara district. 

Fadnavis amplified the allegations of Bhosale and hit out at Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. 

The development coincides with the Voter Adhikar Yatra being undertaken by Rahul Gandhi in poll-bound Bihar. 

"The Congress stands exposed…the allegations are serious…our MLA Atulbaba Bhosale has clearly shown how the Congress is indulging in vote theft. It's up to Rahul Gandhi to respond to this revelation. All contracts of vote chori are taken by Rahul Gandh because of the expose, it has come to light as to who the real vote chor is,” said Fadnavis. 

Chavan has not commented on the allegations, so far.

Building on Bhosale’s allegations, BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said: “It's said that only a thief knows the ways of a thief. It's the habit of thieves to steal and then make a fuss about the theft. Rahul Gandhi’s vote-stealing campaign is exactly that kind! By including Prithviraj Chavan, a loyalist of the Gandhi family and a trusted ally of Rahul Gandhi, in the anti-vote-stealing committee, Congress has handed the keys to the thief. New miracles are being uncovered in the voter lists of their own constituencies.”

He further alleged: “The chaos in voter lists, fake registrations, and multiple registrations of the same person at different places… seeing all this, an investigation is needed to determine whether the masterplan for vote-stealing was crafted within the household itself. The family members of Chavan have not one, not two, but three registrations at different places, with discrepancies in age and address games… if this isn’t a mockery of the election process, then what is? And the same person has been appointed as the head of Congress’s anti-vote-stealing committee? This is like entrusting a thief with the responsibility of finding the stolen goods.” 

BJP's Karad South President Dhanji Patil, at a press conference in Satara on Friday,  alleged that names of Chavan’s family members appear twice in the voter list, accusing him of manipulating records for political gain ahead of the upcoming elections. “In his own house, at least 15 names figure in voters list, who do not live there,” he said, adding that they are carrying out more research of the election data of the Assembly seat subsequent to which they would approach the Election Commission.  

According to him, Chavan’s nephew Indrajit Chavan’s name figures thrice in the voter list. 

Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, when asked about the allegations, said: "We will look into these allegations, but there is a difference between 15 times, 150 times, and 1,800 times”.