The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his “vote theft” remark. The party alleged that in the 1952 general election, the Congress defeated Bhimrao Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, through electoral fraud.
"If we start from 1952, Congress and CPI together defeated Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, a constitution maker and a saint-like leader, in the election. Congress laid the foundation of electoral corruption in the very first election of 1952," BJP MP Anurag Thakur said during a press conference held in BJP headquarters here.
"Check the records: 74,333 votes were rejected, while Ambedkar ji lost by just 14,561 votes. Congress ensured that a constitution maker, a Dalit leader, was eliminated in the very first election. Imagine, the one who created the constitution was defeated by the Congress family through electoral fraud," Anurag said.
He also accused Rahul Gandhi and his family of questioning the Election Commission whenever they lost elections.
"This family and party have had a tradition from the beginning that if you lose an election, you raise questions about the Election Commission, the voters, or the functioning of the Election Commission. Indira Gandhi had said voters are a bunch of fools. When Rajiv Gandhi lost the election, he blamed the ballot paper. Rahul Gandhi's father used to say, conduct elections with voting machines, and Rahul Gandhi says, conduct elections with ballot papers," he said.
The BJP MP also criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for opposing the special revision of voter lists in her state.
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"I want to ask Mamata Banerjee a question. In the Lok Sabha in 2005, she threw documents claiming that the voter list included illegal Bangladeshi migrants. Now, when we are trying to clean that mess, she is creating hurdles. Was she lying then or is she lying now?" he asked.
He said that, knowing it is likely to lose the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress is already making false accusations in coordination with other Opposition parties.
"If there is a record of losing elections 90 times under someone's leadership, then it is under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Even within the party, questions are raised about Rahul Gandhi's leadership," he added.
"When he (Rahul Gandhi) loses elections, he raises questions about EVMs or blames the voters. Congress said EVM is rigged for the BJP. Then they said, ban EVMs, bring back ballot papers. Then they said EVMs can be hacked remotely. After every defeat, Congress kept finding new excuses. Congress did not introspect but kept blaming EVMs, the Election Commission and constitutional institutions again and again. Seeing that it is losing the Bihar elections, Congress is already engaged in making false allegations in connivance with opposition parties," he said.
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