Rahul's 'vote theft' allegations childish; narrative being set by him, India bloc: Maharashtra NCP

Nagpur: Ajit Pawar-led NCP's Maharashtra president Sunil Tatkare on Thursday termed Rahul Gandhi's fresh allegations of 'vote theft' as "childish", and said voters were knowledgeable enough to understand the narrative being set by the Congress leader and the opposition INDIA bloc.

He said the Congress was levelling such charges as it was not able to digest its "huge defeat" in the November 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections.

Tatkare was addressing at a press conference a day before the NCP's 'Chintan Shibir ' in Nagpur that the party's top leaders and office-bearers are scheduled to attend.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting "vote chors" and people who have destroyed democracy, and cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said in Delhi that his revelations today were another milestone in demonstrating to the youth of this country how elections are being rigged.

Responding to a query about the Congress leader's allegations against the Election Commission, Tatkare said, "Rahul Gandhi is certainly the LoP, but he does not have the knowledge of booth-level (poll process) and his statements are very childish." Whenever a voters' list in every booth gets ready, the EC gives time for the registration of new voters and invites suggestions and objections before the final list is published. Accordingly, booth-level and block-level officers of every party go through these lists, the Lok Sabha member from Raigad said.

"I think when these lists are examined at the booth level, then levelling such allegations is not good," he added.

He alleged that the opposition party was satisfied with its performance in last year's Lok Sabha elections, but was not able to digest their huge defeat in the state assembly elections.

"Therefore, they are bringing out such 'vote chori' allegations. But voters are knowledgeable enough to understand the narrative being set by the INDIA bloc and Rahul Gandhi," Tatkare said.

When asked about the crop losses suffered by farmers in the state due to excessive rain and flooding, he said the NCP has taken the issue very seriously.

"NCP's stand is that the cabinet should ask for a report on the crop losses and take a proper decision in the interest of the affected farmers," he said.

On the appointment of heads to various development corporations in the state from the Mahayuti allies, Tatkare said that a coordination committee of the ruling alliance has been formed to decide on it.

"We have decided that the appointments to the development corporations will be done based on the numbers of each party has. A meeting of the coordination committee is expected to take place on Tuesday to discuss it. A draft will then be prepared and given to all three chief leaders of the ruling parties and a decision will be made," he said.