The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back at Rahul Gandhi ‘s latest allegations of ” vote chori “, rejecting his argument that the “disappearance” of anti-incumbency in several states is evidence of manipulation of elections and accused the Congress leader of lacking basic understanding of India’s electoral history.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi responded to the Leader of the Opposition’s press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, in which Gandhi levelled serious allegations against the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Trivedi questioned the Congress leader’s claim that anti-incumbency had somehow disappeared in states where the BJP or its allies have repeatedly remained competitive. “He has no knowledge of Indian politics. BJP didn’t exist back then. Rahul Gandhi has no knowledge of this… Ever since transparent elections have taken place, CCTV cameras have come in, and independent media has arrived, they’ve started finding it difficult to come to power,” the Rajya Sabha MP added. The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that these exchanges represented a formal split or dissent within the three-member constitutional body.
Congress has not been in power in Tamil Nadu since 1967. In Bengal, there has been no Congress government since 1977. In Bihar, there has been no Congress government since 1990. In UP, Congress has not been in power since 1989. Since 1999, Congress has not been in power in Odisha. The objections by Sandhu and Joshi reportedly covered issues including voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, appeals concerning electoral rolls and changes to Form 6, according to the September 23 Indian Express report.
It has said that all its decisions over the past year, including those relating to SIR, were unanimous.
