New Delhi [India], August 19 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia on Tuesday alleged that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is running a "jhooth ki dukaan" (shop of lies) as the Congress MP leads the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in poll-bound Bihar. Bhatia further questioned whether Gandhi would apologise to the nation for spreading "falsehoods".
At a BJP press conference here, Bhatia referred to a petition rejected by the Supreme Court on August 18, alleging discrepancies in the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in November 2024.
"Yesterday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections over alleged bogus voting. The court stated, 'There is no tangible material before us that states there was bogus voting.' Additionally, the court noted that this was a misuse of the legal process"
"Rahul Gandhi is running 'jhooth ki dukaan/showroom', not 'mohabaat ki dukaan'...", Bhatia added.
He also responded to the Congress's claims of discrepancies in the Maharashtra voters' data, claiming that "baseless questions were raised on the Election Commission".
"For 40 hours, lies were floated to weaken our democracy and raise baseless questions on the Election Commission. Who will take responsibility for this? Will Rahul Gandhi apologise to the nation? What about harming the public's faith? The people who saw this information must have believed it to be true," he said.
Echoing similar concerns, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress party of wanting infiltrators and deceased people to remain on the voter list.
Prasad told ANI, "What do they want- that infiltrators be made voters? Should those who have died be kept as voters? Should those listed in two places be kept as voters? What do they want? They have not been able to clarify their stand so far."
"I want to say one thing to Rahul Gandhi, you raised the issue of Pegasus, there was a hearing in the Supreme Court, it was said that those who have a problem should give their phones for investigation, but you didn't give yours. On the Rafale issue, you had to apologise in front of the Supreme Court...The country will never forgive you. The way you have insulted the Parliament, you will never get votes," he added.
LJP (Ramvilas) MP Shambhavi Choudhary also criticised the Opposition's campaign, stating it would not benefit their alliance.
"This yatra will not bring any benefit to their alliance. The people of Bihar have made up their minds to vote only for those who have brought development to the state. Whatever allegations they have made against the Election Commission, they should understand that the Election Commission is a constitutional institution," Choudhary said.
The 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' began on Sunday from Sasaram. The 16-day yatra has been organised to protest against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar and alleged 'vote chori'.The yatra will cover more than 1,300 km across over 20 districts and conclude in Patna on September 1.