New Delhi, Sep 24 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday mounted a blistering critique of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claims of anomalies in India's electoral system, saying that he was "maligning" the country's constitutional institutions.
In a press conference at the party headquarters, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala tore into Gandhi and the Congress party for "painting a poor picture of India's robust electoral system" before foreign publications and questioned his conduct and integrity as the Leader of Opposition (LoP).
Gandhi, speaking to Financial Times, a UK-based newspaper, said that "India's democracy was under siege from systematic vote-rigging and the Congress party's strategy was to challenge the integrity of India's electoral system by building public pressure".
"We are playing the game of mass mobilisation. That's the only way we have," Gandhi told the foreign daily.
Frowning upon these charges, the BJP spokesperson accused the Congress party of fanning propaganda without proof and said, "Rahul's problem is not ECI but it's EMI - which stands for entitled mindset to Indira's grandson."
He claimed that Gandhi was acting more like a "Leader of Propaganda" rather than the LoP, and also questioned the party's "hit and run strategy" of throwing allegations without any proof.
The daily also quoted a Congress MP as saying, "Rahul is looking at a short timeline, looking immediately at the impending elections in Bihar, taking on this from a national perspective, therefore focusing on Bihar to thoroughly discredit the Election Commission."
Poonawala questioned the Congress party's rationale of questioning EC's integrity and also listed multiple instances of when Gandhi levelled false allegations against the country's constitutional bodies and institutions, sans proof.
"In March 25, Gandhi said we are fighting the Indian state, on March 23, he, while being on foreign soil, asked, Why is Europe oblivious to how a huge chunk of democracy in India has come undone? On September 24, he claimed that Sikhs are not free to wear kada and turbans in India," Poonawala said.
He also cited Gandhi's "baseless" claims that the Indian armed forces are "beaten up" in Arunachal Pradesh, to which the courts took strong objection and also advised him to exercise restraint.
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