Bhopal, Aug 19 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh BJP on Tuesday termed the Congress’ claim of alleged irregularities in the State Assembly elections 2023 “baseless”, and an attempt to create a narrative against the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Addressing a press conference here, senior BJP leader Vishwas Sarang said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is creating a narrative against poll panel, sensing his party’s defeat in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

BJP MLA from Bhopal’s Narela seat, who is the Sports and Youth Welfare Minister of Madhya Pradesh, alleged that state Congress leadership was trying to create a narrative against ECI in the state.

“Rahul Gandhi knows that Congress will lose in the Bihar Assembly elections, and therefore, he has started blaming the Election Commission. Madhya Pradesh Congress press conference was nothing but to extend its support to Rahul Gandhi’s narrative,” Minister Sarang said.

The Minister’s press conference came after Congress MLA and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Umang Singhar, levelled “vote theft” allegations during the 2023 Assembly Elections.

During a press conference, Congress leader Singhar presented graphics based on data, scanned government orders and regulations, and raised apprehensions about the results of 27 Assembly seats, in which Congress candidates lost the election with very narrow margins.

“The Congress lost these 27 seats by very narrow margins despite an unexpected vote growth in these Assembly constituencies, which indicates irregularities in the voter list,” LoP Umang Singhar said.

He stated that, in those same constituencies, the increase in voter numbers was found to be much higher than the margin of defeat, “suggesting that the BJP may have been given an undue advantage”.

Singhar said that the ECI refused to publish photos in online voter lists, citing “privacy” and “file size”, but when the government advertised its schemes, photos and videos of beneficiaries were made fully public in documents and ads.

“If privacy isn’t violated there, why are photos not included in the voter list, which is essential for transparency?” the Congress leader asked.

He claimed that, “Whenever irregularities in the voter list are raised, the Madhya Pradesh CEO website is either down or shows the notice ‘website under maintenance’.”

In the 2023 polls, the BJP won 163 out of 230 seats, while the Congress could secure only 66 seats.

–IANS

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