'Vote theft' claim: Cong rasta roko in Mumbai; EC has lost credibility, says Sapkal

The Maharashtra Congress on Friday stepped up its attack on the BJP and Election Commission (EC), by staging a rasta roko in Mumbai, accusing the ruling party of "stealing votes" with the poll body's help.

Congress leaders and workers, led by the party's Maharashtra unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, blocked traffic and raised slogans against the EC and the BJP government, causing a traffic snarl that lasted for over an hour.

Addressing a press conference earlier at Tilak Bhavan, Sapkal said the EC had "completely lost credibility" and was acting like a "broker or advocate" of the BJP.

He further questioned why the ruling party, and not the EC, was responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations in Parliament.

Gandhi on Friday described the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as "institutionalised chori (theft)" and claimed that the EC was "openly colluding" with the BJP to carry out this "theft" with the objective of taking away the voting rights of the poor.

Sapkal said, "Rahul Gandhi has laid bare, with documentary evidence, how the BJP manipulated elections with the EC's help. Instead of initiating a high-level probe or appointing a Supreme Court-monitored SIT, the government is attacking Gandhi personally."

He pointed out that provisions 17, 18 and 19 of the Election Conduct Rules 1960 mandate an inquiry if a formal objection is raised.

"Why has the EC not acted? Why this silence?" Sapkal said.

Taking a swipe at chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Congress leader said, "He is not the chief minister but the 'chip minister', a representative of a fraudulent digital democracy. The way he attacked Rahul Gandhi using demeaning language doesn't show strength, but the stench of arrogance."

He also accused the BJP of "rushing to defend the EC at every instance", hinting at "deep-rooted collusion" between the poll body and the ruling party.

Responding to the BJP's countercharge that the Congress never raised objections during elections, Sapkal clarified that objections were, in fact, raised both during and after polling.

"Candidates who lost have filed petitions in the high courts. Evidence was also submitted to the EC. This propaganda is just the BJP's attempt at sowing confusion," he said.

The Congress has announced a statewide agitation across Maharashtra, including rallies, marches and protests to expose the alleged "vote theft".

The party stated that it would continue its campaign until an independent probe is initiated and accountability is fixed.