Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday accused Rahul Gandhi of speaking in the tone of an “urban Maoist”, alleging that the Congress leader had urged Gen Z to overthrow a democratically elected government, reported the PTI.
CM Fadnavis criticised Rahul Gandhi following a post the Congress MP made on Thursday evening, in which he reiterated allegations of “vote theft” and called on the nation’s youth to defend democracy.
“The nation`s youth, the nation`s students, the nation`s Gen Z will defend the Constitution, protect democracy, and stop vote theft. I always stand with them. Jai Hind!” Rahul Gandhi had written in a social media post.
Reacting to his post on X, CM Fadnavis told reporters, “Rahul Gandhi has called upon Gen Z to overthrow a democratically elected government. That’s not ‘vote theft’, it’s his own brain that`s been stolen,” according to the PTI.
He further accused Gandhi of lacking faith in democratic institutions. “He has no trust in the Constitution and routinely rejects independent institutions. His language resembles that of urban Maoists,” CM Fadnavis said, the news agency reported.
He also took aim at Gandhi’s advisors, calling them ideologically aligned with “urban Maoist” thinking.
“Rahul Gandhi neither understands Gen Z, nor the youth of the nation, nor its elders. India’s youth are building start-ups and embracing technology. They believe in democracy, not disruption,” CM Fadnavis added.
“Gandhi`s advisors are of urban Maoist mindset. But India`s Gen Z believes in the Constitution. It has initiated the start-up ecosystem and knows technology. Rahul Gandhi neither understands Gen Z, nor the youth nor the senior citizens of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde dismissed Rahul Gandhi`s fresh allegations of irregularities in the voters` list as “completely baseless” and challenged him to submit a formal affidavit to the Election Commission (EC), reported news agency PTI.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who “destroyed democracy” and cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.
The Election Commission, however, had dubbed the allegations “incorrect and baseless” and said, “No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi,” reported PTI.
His claims have triggered a war of words between the ruling and Opposition parties, with the latter demanding Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis` resignation.
Talking to reporters in Thane late on Thursday night, Shinde asserted that the election process in Maharashtra, as well as in Karnataka, Telangana, and Punjab, had been entirely transparent.
(With inputs from PTI)
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