Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi described Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a “traitor”. He alleged that all elections held in India after 2023 were ‘rigged’. He also alleged that BJP won all elections since 2023 through ‘vote chori’ (vote theft), all laws enacted by the elected governments after 2023 are ‘tainted’ because the governments were formed through ‘vote chori’. “From ‘vote chori’, comes ‘kanoon chori’ and from that comes ‘sanstha chori’,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi said, even if the BJP wins the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, people will not believe the result as polls were being “rigged” by Gyanesh Kumar. He claimed that vote manipulations took place in Maharashtra, Haryana and other states and said, the charges that he levelled for the last three years, have “now been admitted” by the two election commissioners. Rahul Gandhi said, all governments at some point of time face anti-incumbency, but Modi never faced anti-incumbency. “One reason behind this is that Gyanesh Kumar is helping BJP in ‘vote chori’”, he alleged.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi pointed out that Congress has lost 92 elections till now and for every defeat, it comes up with an excuse. The main focus of Rahul Gandhi’s press conference was to intimidate Gyanesh Kumar. Rahul listed what he had been saying on ‘vote chori’ for the past three years, but could not come up any fresh allegation. Rahul Gandhi said at least 10 times that “we know what is happening, we have information, but we will reveal them in 3-4 months.” Why doesn’t he reveal them right now? What is he waiting for? Actually, he does not have solid proof of ‘vote chori’. The Indian Express report was on internal differences between CEC and the other two election commissioners and not ‘vote chori’.
Nowhere in the report it has been alleged that Gyanesh Kumar manipulated elections. Instead, the two election commissioners said Gyanesh Kumar does not even listen to the government. Both commissioners said, he should have asked the government about making changes in Form 6, but he did not ask. BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi reminded Rahul Gandhi that the Congress has been out of power in West Bengal since 49 years, in Odisha since 26 years, in Uttar Pradesh since 37 years and in Gujarat since 31 years. Does it mean all this happened because of ‘vote chori’?, he asked. It is also a futile argument that anti-incumbency had no effect on BJP. Since 2014, there have been 20 elections, in which BJP lost power due to anti-incumbency. But Rahul Gandhi is carrying on with his single tune “vote chori”, “vote chori”. In Hindi, there is a proverb, ‘Thotha Chana, Baaje Ghana”. In English, it is “empty vessels make noise”.
UP elections: Why is Congress damaging Samajwadi party?
Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav began his PDA rath yatra on a saffron chariot from Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Raebareli. Bulldozers were brought to garland the leader. Not a single Congress leader was seen at the yatra. Already tension is brewing between SP and Congress over poll alliance in UP. It reflected in Akhilesh’s speech. He said, no party or leader must think that if he demands seats, he will get from the alliance. “Seats will be allotted to that party which can give guarantee of win”, he said. In this war of words, Imran Masood and Asim Waqar are batting on behalf of Congress, while SP has fielded Iqra Hasan, S. T. Hasan and Ashu Malik.
Iqra Hasan cautioned Congress leaders to stay within limits. All India Muslim Jamaat chief Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi said, now that Akhilesh has painted his rath saffron, Muslims must stay away from his yatra. Some do not like Akhilesh sitting on a saffron rath, some do like his posters, but Iqra Hasan bluntly said, in UP, Congress will have to follow Akhilesh Yadav. There are two reasons. One, Congress leaders Imran Masood and Asim Waqar have been targeting SP for last several days. Naturally, they are not doing this on their own. Two, in Raebareli, Congress won all elections with the help of SP.
One can say that Raebareli is a Congress citadel, but the fact is, Rahul Gandhi was elected MP with the help of Akhilesh Yadav in 2024 LS polls. It was surprising why no Congress leader was seen in Raebareli, when Akhilesh launched his yatra. On the contrary, Congress leaders said, he should have told Rahul Gandhi before starting his yatra from Raebareli. It seems, all these so-called tensions are meant only to create pressure. It will be ironed out, once the election starts in full swing.
Women under attack in Bihar: Where is police?
Bad news from Bihar. After the sexual assault on a girl in Jamui, incidents of sexual attacks on girls took place in Darbhanga, Banka and Samastipur. In Karpoorigram of Samastipur, an adolescent girl was waylaid by goons. They carried out sexual assault, and it was captured on camera. Out of fear, the girl did not report to police, but the goons posted the video on social media. Police then swung into action and arrested Rahul Kumar, Awadesh Paswan, Rambabu Sahni and Vikas Kumar, after they were identified on video. Samastipur police said, those watching the ugly act as silent spectators will be booked and questioned.
In Banka, a girl, who had come to visit Mandar Parbat, was accosted by goons. She was thrashed and sexually assaulted. The criminals made a video of the act and posted on social media. Police is now on the lookout of these goons. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav targeted CM Samrat Chaudhary and alleged that law and order has practically collapsed in Bihar. “Criminals have no fear of law”, he said. LJP leader Chirag Paswan said, it seems Bihar Police has lost its authority and power. “There can be no compromise on the issue of security of women”, he said. JD-U leader and minister Ashok Chaudhary made a shameful remark. He said, such incidents happen in the US and Japan.
BJP leader and minister Dilip Jaiswal alleged that all such acts are part of a deep conspiracy to defame Bihar. In such matters of serious nature, anybody trying to shield the government is akin to supporting the criminals. It is shameful that incidents of sexual assaults took place against girls in Jamui, Samastipur and Banka and the police came to know about it only after the videos were put on social media. It means, one, criminals have now no fear of police, and two, the girls who became the victims did not report to police out of fear. Chirag Paswan’s question is important. What happened to the authority of Bihar Police?