New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) Hours after Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and the Election Commission of “vote deletion” in Karnataka’s Aland constituency during the 2023 Assembly elections, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Anurag Thakur launched a sharp counterattack on Thursday, calling the Congress leader's charges “habitual, baseless allegations”. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Thakur said the Congress has repeatedly been rejected by the people under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. “Congress has lost nearly 90 elections under his leadership. His frustration has grown so much that he has made the politics of allegations his only ornament,” Thakur remarked.

He further said Gandhi refuses to authenticate his claims when asked for evidence. “Whenever he is told to submit a written oath or file an official complaint, he turns his back and runs away,” he said, adding that Gandhi’s track record of allegations -- from Rafale and ‘chowkidar chor hai’ to Pegasus -- had only ended in “humiliation and apologies in courts”. On Gandhi’s fresh allegation regarding voter deletions in Aland, Thakur cited the Election Commission’s statement that no voter’s name can be deleted online without due process and opportunity of hearing. He noted that the Congress candidate had, in fact, won the seat by over 10,000 votes in 2023.

“Does it mean Congress indulged in vote theft to win?” he asked. Referring to the Karnataka High Court’s recent decision setting aside Congress leader K.Y. Nanje Gowda’s victory in Malur and ordering a recount, Thakur questioned: “Does that mean Congress did vote chori in Malur?” Thakur accused the Congress of attempting to undermine democratic institutions and destabilise the country. “Are they trying to protect infiltrators and give them voting rights at the cost of SC/ST/OBC communities? Rahul Gandhi’s statement makes it seem he stands with infiltrators,” he alleged. Rejecting any claims of bias in the functioning of the Election Commission, Thakur said Congress itself had a history of misusing the EC. “Today, the EC is working with integrity,” he asserted. “The BJP will take every step to strengthen democracy and expose infiltrators whom Congress wants to empower,” Thakur declared.