Accusing Rahul Gandhi of seeking to destabilise Indian democracy and spread anarchy as per an “infiltrators-first” policy, former Union minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday accused the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha of trying to create a Bangladesh- and Nepal-like situation in India by raising questions against the Election Commission and other constitutional institutions.
Going on the offensive against the senior Congress leader soon after his press conference, where he alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was “protecting vote chors (thieves)”, Thakur demanded why he refused to give an affidavit detailing his allegations if they possessed enough weight, alleging that his sole politics hinged on “creating chaos and then playing the victim card”.
“It has become a habit of Rahul Gandhi to make incorrect and baseless allegations. And after levelling these accusations, apologising and being rebuked by courts has become his job,” Thakur alleged.
“Sling mud and run away – there are many instances of his hit-and-run. He was going to detonate a hydrogen bomb in today’s press conference, but had to make do with a phuljadi (sparkler), which too went bust. What has happened to him?” he asked.
The Election Commission, Thakur said, had clarified that no deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public and that too without being given an opportunity to be heard.
In 2023, “unsuccessful attempts” were made at the deletion of names in the Aland Assembly constituency, followed by the EC’s directions to file an FIR and investigation, he added.
“The EC has provided mobile numbers, IP addresses…what has the CID of Congress-ruled Karnataka done? I want to tell the people of the nation, according to the records, the Aland constituency was won by the Congress candidate in 2023 with 10,348 votes. So, Rahul Gandhi ji, did the Congress win through vote chori?” he asked.
“One thing that Rahul Gandhi ji admitted today, and ended up blasting the hydrogen on himself by, was that he was not here to defend democracy—so have preparations been made to destroy it instead? Levelling wrong allegations repeatedly against the Election Commission of India, sometimes questioning EVMs, sometimes VVPATs, sometimes election results and sometimes, with assistance from his toolkit, raising questions on India’s democracy and its constitutional institutions–has this become a habit?” Thakur demanded.
‘Congress misused the Election Commission’
Citing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s ouster from power after she won an election through the “misuse of the government and officials” and the postponement of the Lok Sabha polls following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Thakur questioned the appointment of election commissioners who later joined the Congress.
“Rama Devi ji, M S Gill, T N Seshan–which party appointed them as election commissioners, and which party did they end up joining? They have misused the Election Commission…but if the Election Commission of India is working impartially, it is Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to attack the democracy of India again and again, to weaken it, to mislead the people and to try and create a situation in the country like in Bangladesh and Nepal,” he alleged.
Citing the Karnataka High Court’s verdict cancelling the results of the Malur constituency, Thakur asked whether the Congress had won this seat in 2023 through the misappropriation of votes.
“The Karnataka high court ruled in favour of BJP candidate Manjunath Gowda. The court said that in the Malur Vidhan Sabha, during counting, grave discrepancies occurred during counting. So had the Congress won the seat because of this?” he asked.
“Every time Rahul Gandhi ji has levelled allegations and been taken to court, he has had to face defeat…he has either had to apologise or has been rebuked. Is it with this fear that Rahul Gandhi ji is not giving an affidavit?… He had come to detonate a bomb but ended up doing only drama,” Thakur alleged.
If there was so much weight in his arguments, Thakur asked, why was the former Congress president not taking the matter to court even as he accused him of working against Indian democracy?
‘Weakening value of SC/ST votes’
He also accused the Raebareli MP of seeking to reduce the value of the votes of those belonging to the SC/ST/OBC and minority backgrounds.
“You are not able to provide proof and only level false accusations. Is weakening constitutional institutions a big conspiracy against Indian democracy…? Is this only to save infiltrators’ votes?” he asked.
“He talks about SCs/STs/OBCs but is seeking to weaken the value of their votes like this? Is infiltrator-first politics the sole agenda of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party? Is Congress trying to protect infiltrators and their voting rights, which they do not have? Rahul ji’s statements have time and again revealed that he is with them and wants to reduce the weightage of the votes of India’s SCs/STs/OBCs and minorities,” he alleged.