New Delhi [India], August 7 : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday dismissed Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's allegations of "collusion" between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP, calling them "baseless."
Speaking to ANI, Shinde credited the increased voter turnout in Maharashtra to the support of Ladli Behnas, farmers, and the general public, who, he said, voted overwhelmingly for the Mahayuti alliance comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP.
"The voting percentage in Maharashtra increased as Ladli Behnas, farmers, and the public of Maharashtra decided to make the Mahayuti victorious...The allegations levelled by Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi are baseless," Shinde said.
He also accused the Congress of hypocrisy, recalling, "The biggest scam of the Election Commission of India took place when the Manmohan Singh-led government snatched the voting right of Balasaheb Thackeray...They are about to lose the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, and they are preparing the ground for it."
Rahul Gandhi had earlier alleged that the Election Commission was helping the BJP undermine the electoral process. "Narendra Modi became Prime Minister with just a margin of 25 seats...Election Commission is helping BJP destroy the electoral system in India...The Election Commission is withholding the data from us due to our actions in Mahadevpur (Karnataka Assembly constituency). If we repeat this in other Lok Sabha seats, the truth about our democracy will be exposed. This is the evidence, criminal evidence (pointing to the physical voter list)," he said, pointing to a physical voter list.
He further accused the poll body of "destroying evidence" by instructing officials to preserve CCTV and webcasting footage of polling for only 45 days unless the result is challenged in court.
"The Election Commission is looking to destroy the evidence across the country. It is the 21st century; you can store as much data as you want on a hard drive, including 10-year-old data. However, the Election Commission wants to destroy the CCTV footage within 45 days without providing the voter list. They are colluding with the BJP to destroy the election system in India," he claimed.
Earlier, the Election Commission of India on Saturday claimed that Rahul Gandhi is yet to respond to its June letter regarding his allegations of "election rigging" in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
"Why? Is it because his media statements were baseless?" ECI sources asked.
Rahul Gandhi had claimed that similar rigging would happen in the Bihar assembly polls scheduled later this year.