Rahul Gandhi's 'false narrative' rejected thrice, will be ignored again: BJP

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi 's disclosure to back his allegations of rigging in Maharashtra polls is akin to "someone cutting the branch he is sitting on" as Congress and its allies won most seats where the number of voters had increased, BJP said on Friday.

"This false (Maharashtra) narrative has already been rejected by people thrice and it will meet the same fate in the future as well," Union minister Bhupender Yadav said at a press conference, adding that the language used by the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha reflected "arrogance towards the hard-working officers and staff of EC".

Congress is systematically attempting to weaken constitutional institutions to serve the interests of a single family by building fake narratives, Yadav said.

Citing EC data, Yadav said the number of voters on electoral rolls for Maharashtra assembly polls in Nov 2024 had increased by over 40 lakh compared to Lok Sabha elections held earlier that year, and not by one crore as claimed by Rahul.

"The Congress functionary inflated the figure by 60 lakh," Yadav said, claiming Rahul prepared for a long time to make his case but the foundational logic of his allegation turned out to be "incorrect". All his claims should be discounted by 60% from now on, he said.

Naming a number of assembly constituencies such as Madha, Mohol, Nagpur West and Nagpur North where Congress and its allies registered wins, Yadav said the number of voters went up in these seats. "Those who keep raising questions about Maharashtra are the very ones - Congress and its allies - who won most of the seats where voter numbers increased. This alone discredits Rahul's theory," he said.

"It is like the case of someone cutting the branch he is sitting on. If Rahul has real objections to the polling process, he should file an affidavit on oath with Election Commission ," Yadav said.