Pune: NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar Says Election Commission Should Respond To Vote Theft Queries, Not BJP Leaders

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday claimed that BJP leaders routinely respond whenever Congress MP Rahul Gandhi questions the Election Commission's functioning, fuelling "mistrust" in the poll panel. 

Responding to a question on Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Election Commission of India over alleged "vote chori", Pawar said Gandhi and other Opposition leaders have raised key issues about the ECI's functioning."When Gandhi, the leader of the opposition (in the Lok Sabha), raised the issue in Parliament, the institution concerned should have taken note of it. 

But what is happening is that when Gandhi raises questions and criticises the ECI, the ECI does not answer - it is the BJP and its leaders who respond," he told reporters here. Instead of the Election Commission, the chief minister and other leaders are responding to such issues, the former Union minister noted.

"By doing this, they are actually contributing to the mistrust about the ECI, which is not good," he added. Sharpening his attack on the issue of "vote chori" (vote theft), Gandhi last week accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who destroyed democracy. 

To buttress his allegation, the leader of the opposition cited data from two assembly constituencies in Karnataka and Maharashtra, where he claimed voters were deleted/added in a fraudulent manner. 

The Election Commission has dubbed the allegations as incorrect and baseless, and said, "No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi."