Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote theft’ allegations against the Election Commission as he went on to make an explosive claim himself regarding an offer he received ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Pawar claimed that he was approached by two people who guranteed him a 160-seat win in the Maharashtra polls last year. He further said that he had arranged a meeting with those people and Rahul Gandhi, but the two leaders rejected the offer, stating, “This is not our way”.
“I remember that before the Maharashtra Assembly elections were announced, two people came to meet me in Delhi… They told me that out of 288 seats in Maharashtra, we guarantee you 160 seats. I was surprised, to be honest, I had no doubts about the Election Commission…” Pawar said at a press conference in Nagpur.
“After that, I arranged a meeting with those people and Rahul Gandhi. Whatever they wanted to say, they said in front of Rahul Gandhi. But Rahul Gandhi and I were of the opinion that we should not pay attention to this; this is not our path,” he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
The NCP veteran further demanded a detailed probe by the Election Commission into allegations of “vote theft” raised by Rahul Gandhi. He also questioned the rationale behind the poll body asking the Congress leader to file an affidavit and provide details under oath.
“Rahul Gandhi’s presentation on vote theft was well-researched and well-documented. A detailed inquiry is needed into the concerns raised by him to clear doubts (about the integrity of the electoral process) among people. ‘Doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani hona chaiye’. I feel the inquiry will bring out the truth,” he said as quoted by news agency PTI.
“Gandhi had also said this in Parliament. It is not proper for the election commission to ask for an oath (declaration) from him,” he added, stressing that since EC is an independent body, it shouldn’t ask for a separate declaration.
‘Not Empty Claims’: Aaditya Thackeray Backs Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chori’ Charge
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Election Commission of “openly colluding” with the BJP to carry out ” vote theft” with the objective of taking away the voting rights of the poor.
He described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as an “institutionalised theft” and claimed a “huge criminal fraud” in polls in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Following these allegations by Rahul Gandhi and the 160-seat win claim made by Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray said that the claims made by the Congress leader are not empty, and that the poll body should debate with Gandhi instead of challenging.
“We had been saying this for a long time now that vote theft has indeed happened across the country and that EC is operated through the BJP office. What Rahul Gandhi has shown are not empty claims. He has unearthed ‘vote theft’…I think instead of challenging, EC should debate with Rahul Gandhi…The information we have gathered is from their website itself. So, is their website and records incorrect?,” he said.
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