DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday said that after finding faults with electronic voting machines (EVMs) for their losses in elections, now the Congress is spreading another "false agenda".

Addressing a public gathering in Kurukshetra during a "Van Mahotsav" programme, Saini launched a scathing attack on the Congress over Rahul Gandhi's poll-rigging claims. "Those who ruled the country for 55 years failed to live up to the expectations of people, for which they have been shown the door by people," he said.

Gandhi on Thursday made explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in polls through a collusion between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission, citing an analysis of the voting pattern in a Karnataka constituency and calling it "a crime against the Constitution".

The Congress leader also claimed that the difference between winning and losing the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls for the Congress was just 22,779 votes in the entire state.

In retaliation, Saini said, "While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking the country forward, some people have the habit of criticising. The opposition's role today is worrisome. Earlier, it used to find faults with EVMs. Now, a big leader of the opposition, who has been rejected by the people of the country, has come up with another false agenda of 'vote chori' (referring to Gandhi's vote-theft claims).... Someone should tell them that votes were not stolen, rather, people rejected them because of their wrongdoings."

As Congress leaders amplified Gandhi's "vote-theft" allegation, EC officials on Saturday once again pressed the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha to either sign a declaration in support of his claims or apologise to the country for making "fake" charges.

The chief electoral officers of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana also asked Gandhi to furnish the names of those he claims were either left out or wrongfully included in the electoral rolls, along with a signed declaration in accordance with the Conduct of Election Rules. Saini said the country has made rapid progress in various fields over the last 11 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. He also mentioned Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh and commended the Indian Air Force (IAF), which shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and a large aircraft during Operation Sindoor, in the largest-ever recorded surface-to-air kill by India.

Many opposition leaders have been attacking the government over the delay in revealing the extent of damage caused to both India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, which was launched to target terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Paksitan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed.

(editor@dailyworld.in)