Fadnavis trains guns on Gandhi for ‘defaming country’

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has accused senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of “defaming the country” and its democratic image on global platforms by targeting the Election Commission of India (ECI). Fadnavis claimed Gandhi had “insulted the country” and its democratic character.

Fadnavis was responding to charges made by the former Congress president, that the ECI was compromised. Gandhi said this at an event in Boston, in the US, while addressing the Indian diaspora. Fadnavis was later asked by senior Congress leader Pawan Khera why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ECI were so quick to defend each other.

“It is sad that Rahul Gandhi is trying to spread lies about the country, its democracy, and institutions established following constitutional provisions, in a foreign land. He has been doing this for a while, which is a condemnable act,” Fadnavis told the media on Monday.

He then took a swipe at Gandhi, claiming he had attacked the ECI as the Congress had lost elections repeatedly. “His behaviour has raised a question mark on his character. My advice to him is to go to the people and regain their trust, in order to increase his party’s vote share, not by defaming the country,” Fadnavis remarked.

In response, Khera said, “It is quite surprising that when we questioned the BJP during the poll campaign, the Election Commission had jumped to their defence. Now when Rahul Gandhi has raised questions on the Election Commission’s functioning, who has come to their defence? The BJP,” Khera retorted.

He said if the BJP was not controlling the ECI, then the poll body must share the voters’ list the Congress had sought eight months ago. He also recalled prime minister Narendra Modi’s statement, in which he had said that people used to feel disadvantaged for being born in India. “Narendra Modi, himself in a foreign land, once said there was a time when people used to feel unfortunate for taking birth in India. He was the one who taught us the tradition of making statements in foreign lands,” Khera pointed out.

While addressing the Indian diaspora in Boston, Gandhi drew attention to the Maharashtra assembly elections, claiming 65 lakh voters had been added to the voters’ list in just two hours, “which was impossible”.

“More people voted in Maharashtra than the total number of people in Maharashtra, and this is a fact... the Election Commission gave us a figure in the evening around 5.30 pm, and in two hours, at around 7.30 pm, 65 lakh voters had voted, which is physically impossible,” Gandhi was quoted as saying.

“It is very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised; there is something very wrong with the system,” he said.