Trivedi Accuses Rahul Gandhi of spreading lies, creating political unrest
Trivedi alleged that forces both within and outside India, which were uncomfortable with the country's rapid economic, technological and security advancements, were attempting to create instability. He claimed that the Opposition had become a “puppet” in the hands of such forces
Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Monday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of spreading misinformation and attempting to create political “unrest” and “instability” in the country by undermining democratic and constitutional institutions.
Addressing a press conference here, Trivedi alleged that forces both within and outside India, which were uncomfortable with the country's rapid economic, technological and security advancements, were attempting to create instability. He claimed that the Opposition had become a “puppet” in the hands of such forces.
“Unfortunately, the Opposition appears to have become merely a puppet in their hands. The biggest challenge to Indian democracy today is coming from the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
Referring to the Congress-led Opposition's demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged intentional deletion of more than 13 crore voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Trivedi defended the exercise, claiming that it had been conducted transparently and systematically.
He questioned why Congress's booth-level agents and district leaders had not raised objections during the different stages of electoral roll revision. He said revised electoral rolls were shared with political parties at the district and State levels before being forwarded to the Election Commission of India.
“If you had objections, why did you not raise them at the appropriate stages? You had opportunities to register your objections, but you failed to do so,” he said.
Trivedi also cited remarks attributed to Congress leaders in Kerala and Karnataka to challenge the party's criticism of SIR. He referred to Kerala Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's reported remarks that the exercise had helped eliminate bogus votes allegedly created by the Communist Party. He also cited a video of Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who reportedly said that bogus votes had been removed through SIR.
Explaining the categories of voters covered by the revision exercise, Trivedi claimed that they included deceased persons, voters who had shifted residences, duplicate registrations and non-traceable voters. He asserted that the figure of 13 crore referred to notices issued in connection with the exercise and did not mean that an equivalent number of votes had been deleted.
He further claimed that around three crore voters could not be traced by Booth Level Officers during field verification, questioning the presence of such entries in electoral rolls.
Dismissing allegations of selective targeting, Trivedi said notices had also been issued to prominent personalities, including senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, former Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, CBI Director Praveen Sood and BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj.
He accused the Congress of attempting to create confusion and undermine public confidence in constitutional institutions.