Tonk (Rajasthan) [India], November 18 : Congress leader Sachin Pilot slammed the Election Commission days after the announcement of the Bihar assembly elections and urged the poll body to remain "unbiased" and "work within the bounds of the Constitution."
He also alleged that the names of "millions of voters were struck off" from the voter list
Speaking to reporters, Sachin Pilot said, "We warned everyone. (Congress MP) Rahul Gandhi has provided evidence. Names of millions of voters were cut off. If they try to get people to vote by giving them money in the middle of an election, that is the Election Commission's responsibility... It is steadily losing credibility. I urge them that, as a constitutional institution of the country, it is their responsibility to remain unbiased, rise above ideology and party lines and serve the country and work within the bounds of the Constitution."
Earlier, reacting to the poll results, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed the Bihar Assembly election was "unfair from the beginning" after Congress could not secure double-digit seats despite contesting 61 seats.
Gandhi said that the party will review its performance after the election and assured that Congress will continue to "fight for the protection of the Constitution and democracy."
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, "I express my heartfelt gratitude to those millions of voters in Bihar who expressed their trust in the Mahagathbandhan. This result in Bihar is truly surprising. We could not achieve victory in an election that was unfair from the very beginning."
"This fight is for the protection of the Constitution and democracy. The Congress Party and the INDIA alliance will deeply review this result and make their efforts to save democracy even more effective," he added.
Meanwhile, the ruling NDA has gotten another term in Bihar, winning 202 seats, a three-fourths majority in the 243-member House. This is the second time the NDA has crossed the 200-mark in the assembly polls. In the 2010 polls, it had won 206 seats.
In the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) won 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) won 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats.
In Mahagathbandhan, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) - CPI(ML)(L) - two, Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) - one and Communist Party of India (Marxist) - CPI(M) one seat.