Bengaluru, Aug 19 (IANS) Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi has alleged that the Congress party, under the pretext of its ‘campaign against voter fraud,’ is actually seeking publicity and misleading the people of the country.

Speaking to media in Delhi on Tuesday, Joshi stated, “A senior Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) psephologist (a specialist in the study and analysis of elections, voting patterns, and electoral data), while responding to queries on the Maharashtra voters’ list, admitted that the election data was misread and even apologised. Yet, Rahul Gandhi continues to accuse the Election Commission of bias and claims of ‘vote theft,’ which is not correct, Joshi objected.

He further stated that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has been making baseless allegations against the Election Commission. “By launching a so-called ‘Save Democracy Movement,’ he is not safeguarding democracy, but instead spreading false messages against one of the most transparent constitutional institutions,” Joshi charged.

The minister also demanded a fair probe into how and why the senior CSDS member misread Maharashtra’s election data, and how this flawed data was used for political propaganda. “Only then will the real culprits be exposed,” Joshi maintained.

Recently, Rahul Gandhi mentioned the name ‘Ranjo Devi,’ claiming her name was missing from the voters’ list and used this for his campaign. But her name is very much present in the electoral roll. Despite this, he continues to build castles of lies. Now, his political malice stands exposed, Joshi asserted.

“All this talk of voter fraud and vote theft is nothing but a drama of Congress. It clearly shows to what extent Rahul Gandhi is misleading the nation,” Minister Pralhad Joshi criticised.

Earlier, responding to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) directive to Rahul Gandhi to file an affidavit in 7 days or tender an apology regarding vote theft charges, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated that the ECI looked like it was reading straight from the BJP’s script.

Taking to social media X, Siddaramaiah had said, “The Election Commission of India (ECI) finally spoke – not out of duty, but because the Congress, the INDIA Alliance, the civil society, and even the Supreme Court forced it to. And when it did, the mask slipped. Instead of behaving like an impartial referee, the ECI looked like it was reading straight from the BJP’s script. Yesterday’s press conference didn’t answer questions raised by Rahul Gandhi – it only confirmed suspicions.”

–IANS

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