New Delhi | The BJP on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of hypocrisy over his allegations against the Election Commission and EVMs, and claimed that the INDIA bloc has "completely fallen apart" after the West Bengal election results.
In a video post on X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that Gandhi questions electoral processes only after defeats but accepts results where his party wins.
"This is sheer hypocrisy and shamelessness of Rahul Gandhi. His party has won elections in Kerala, where SIR took place and elections were done with EVM. There elections were completely fine and that was the verdict of the people. Now he is hypocritically blaming EVM and Election Commission in West Bengal and Assam," he said.
Poonawalla further accused Gandhi of making repeated allegations without evidence and said courts have not upheld such claims.
"You ran an entire campaign on vote theft and on voter deletions in Bihar and nothing could be provided to the Supreme Court," he said.
The BJP spokesperson alleged that such claims were aimed at avoiding accountability.
"You make these eternal allegations against Election Commission every time you lose an election. This is like a post-poll excuse or alibi in order to save the family from accountability... But no proof is provided of any wrongdoing in any election in the court of law," he said.
Poonawalla also accused the outgoing Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, of making similar excuses.
"And that's what Mamata Banerjee is also doing. But no proof is provided of any wrongdoing in any election in the court of law. In fact, it was the TMC which was rigging elections...what they did in Falta, what they did in other parts of West Bengal in other elections," he said.
Targeting the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla claimed it stands divided after the West Bengal results, with partners offering conflicting reasons for the defeat.
"Following the results of West Bengal, the INDI alliance has completely fallen apart -- it is fragmented, broken into pieces, and divided. On one hand, the Trinamool Congress says it lost due to vote theft and rigging, on the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) claims that is not the reason," he said.
He also questioned the lack of consensus within the opposition bloc and termed it "directionless".
"The alliance now exists only in name, not in function. It has no mission, no vision -- only confusion and an obsession with opposing Prime Minister Modi," he added.
He also cited purported remarks by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut to highlight the "contradictions within the alliance".
In a video clip, Raut was purportedly heard attributing the defeat to Mamata Banerjee's lack of coordination with Gandhi.
"Rahul Gandhi was repeatedly saying that what Mamata Banerjee did was a big mistake. If Mamata Didi had sat with Rahul Gandhi and discussed, the result could have been different. Everything Rahul Gandhi said has proved to be correct; he is a visionary leader," Raut was purportedly heard saying in the clip shared by Poonawalla.
Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the elections in Assam and West Bengal were "stolen" by the BJP with the support of the Election Commission.
In a post on X, the Congress leader said, "Assam and Bengal are clear cases of the election being stolen by the BJP with the support of the EC. We agree with Mamata ji. More than 100 seats were stolen in Bengal."
