The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his comments on alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra civic polls, accusing him of misleading people and attempting to undermine the electoral process while vote counting was underway.
The BJP’s response followed Rahul’s social media post alleging that the Election Commission was “gaslighting citizens” amid a controversy over the alleged use of erasable ink instead of indelible ink during the local body elections.
Sharing a newspaper report on X (formerly Twitter), the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha wrote, “Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori is an anti-national act.”
Reacting sharply, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Rahul of discrediting institutions to pre-empt an electoral setback.
“Bahana (excuse) brigade back! Accepting defeat before counting ends?” he said in a post on X.
Poonawalla further escalated the attack, alleging a pattern in Rahul’s conduct. “Rahul Back to doing what he does best -- discredit, distort and disinform. ‘Khandani chor’ now regurgitating claims of Thackerays,” he charged.
The BJP leader also questioned Rahul on the outcome of his earlier allegations of ‘vote chori’ during the Bihar elections. The party has repeatedly dismissed Rahul’s vote theft claims as “baseless” and an attempt at “hiding his failures”, and has asked why opposition leaders did not approach courts or constitutional authorities if they believed electoral irregularities had occurred.
Rahul’s remarks came amid complaints from voters and opposition parties that marker pens were used instead of standard indelible ink in parts of Maharashtra, with several voters claiming the ink marks could be wiped off after voting.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the matter and warned of action against those it accused of “creating confusion”.
Gaslighting refers to psychological manipulation that causes people to doubt their own perception of reality. The term was first used in a 1995 New York Times column by Maureen Dowd and later gained wider recognition, with Oxford University Press naming it a runner-up among popular new words in 2018.