Siddharthnagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Jagdambika Pal on Thursday took a sharp dig at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of ‘vote theft’ in the recently held Haryana elections, saying the Congress leader was attempting to undermine constitutional institutions and mislead people ahead of the Bihar polls.
While speaking to ANI in Siddharthnagar, Pal said, “When the Election Commission completed its process, it invited public objections and assured that valid voters would be addressed. Both Congress and RJD were informed as well, but they chose to attack constitutional institutions instead.”
Accusing the Opposition Mahagathbandhan of spreading misinformation, the BJP MP said, “They spread falsehoods about Indian democracy while abroad. They are unable to manage alliances and are frustrated, due to which they are raising issues like SIR. They are sure to face defeat in the Bihar elections.”
A day earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had alleged “voter fraud” in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections, claiming that one in eight voters in Haryana were fake. He pointed to unexplained discrepancies between postal and booth votes.
Gandhi said his team has clear proof that around 25 lakh voters in the state are either duplicates, nonexistent, or manipulated.
The revelations made by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have drawn criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP has stated that Gandhi’s allegations serve as proof of the Mahagathbandhan’s defeat in the Bihar assembly elections.
Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Haryana has asked the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to sign and submit an affidavit in response to the latter’s claim of 25 lakh “fake” voters in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections.
While addressing a press conference, ‘H files’, Rahul Gandhi said, “We have crystal clear proof that 25 lakh voters (in Haryana) are fake, that they either don’t exist or they are duplicates or are designed in a way for anybody to vote…1 in 8 voters in Haryana is fake; that’s 12.5%.”
BJP’s Ajay Alok lashed out at Gandhi after the latter alleged “voter fraud” in the 2024 Haryana assembly elections, saying that the same tactics don’t work “over and over again”.
Speaking to ANI, Alok said that Rahul Gandhi’s allegations were an official admission of losing the Bihar assembly elections that are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. He also accused Gandhi of “provoking” Gen Z youth.
Meanwhile, voting for the first phase of the 2025 Assembly elections in Bihar began on Thursday at 7:00 am across 121 constituencies in 18 districts, covering the state’s 243 seats, with approximately 3.75 crore electors casting their ballots.
Polling will conclude at 6 pm; however, due to security considerations, polling time has been curtailed to 5 pm in some constituencies.
According to the Election Commission, there are 10.72 lakh ‘new electors’, and 7.78 lakh voters are in the 18-19 years age group.
The total population of these constituencies, as stated by the Election Commission, is 6.60 crore. A total of 122 women candidates are in the fray in the first phase of the polls. Jan Suraj Party fielded 119 candidates in this phase.
Within NDA, JD(U) is contesting 57 seats, followed by BJP on 48 and LJP (Ram Vilas) on 14.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, polling took place in three phases. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 125 seats, while the opposition won 110. Among the major parties, the Janata Dal (United) secured 43 seats, while the Congress secured 19.
The JD(U) contested 115 constituencies, and the BJP 110, whereas the RJD contested 144 seats and the Congress 70.
This report is auto generated from the ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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