Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 27 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations against the Election Commission, alleging that Gandhi's strategy was to create doubts about constitutional institutions and push the country towards "anarchy".
Addressing a press conference, Fadnavis said Rahul Gandhi was using the Constitution as a shield while allegedly attempting to undermine institutions established under it.
"I have been saying this from the beginning that even though Rahul Gandhi is showing the Constitution, his plan, his whole strategy, is something else. By keeping the Constitution in front, the intention is to defame all the constitutional institutions, to create questions about them in the minds of the people, and to create a situation where people lose their faith in constitutional institutions," Fadnavis said.
"After creating such a situation, they want to bring about anarchy, and through that anarchy create a feeling in the minds of the people that the democratic system created by the Constitution cannot give us justice, and then take this entire system towards a socialist system, a communist system. This is the kind of design Rahul Gandhi has prepared," he added.
Fadnavis alleged that Gandhi was trying to raise questions over multiple constitutional bodies, including the Election Commission, Supreme Court, Reserve Bank of India and Comptroller and Auditor General.
Questioning the strength of constitutional institutions, Fadnavis said, "My question is: Is the Constitution prepared by Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar so weak that all the constitutional institutions created under it have collapsed, or can collapse?"
Referring to the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Fadnavis said a news report that triggered the row had no evidence and claimed that the issue was clarified after all three Election Commissioners addressed the matter together.
"I can clearly see his design. He wants to bring about anarchy. As part of the same design, some newspaper publishes a news item that has neither head nor tail, nor any evidence. And yesterday, when all three Election Commissioners held a joint statement, their lie was completely exposed," he said.
Fadnavis said the Election Commissioners had clarified that all decisions were taken collectively and unanimously.
"All three unequivocally stated together that they take all decisions collectively, that all decisions were taken unanimously, and that all agendas were discussed and deliberated upon before decisions were taken. All three stated that the decision regarding SIR was also a collective decision and that none of them had any different view regarding SIR. There was no different view on the file either," he said.
On the letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, Fadnavis said the issue was related to a deputation appointment and not any policy matter.
"Regarding the letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, it was also clearly stated that the letter was not about any policy matter. It concerned an appointment made on deputation and certain concerns or confusion regarding that appointment. Therefore, there was no discussion or dispute on any policy matter," he said.
He accused Rahul Gandhi of deliberately creating confusion among people over the country's democratic system.
"But Rahul Gandhi deliberately wants to create doubts in the minds of the people. In a way, their strategy is very clear: 'make people confused'. They want to create confusion about the country’s constitutional system and democratic system. They are trying to push people into confusion in order to create anarchy," Fadnavis said.
Targeting Gandhi over earlier political controversies, Fadnavis said, "This is the same Rahul Gandhi who, after creating the 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' narrative, apologised before the Supreme Court. This is the same Rahul Gandhi who has left no stone unturned in demoralising the soldiers of the country. When our country carried out surgical strikes, he raised questions over them. When air strikes were carried out, he raised questions over them," he added.
"Even our soldiers, who serve in temperatures of minus 40 degrees on the China border, continuously confronting the Chinese and securing our borders, were defamed by him when he said that the Chinese were beating them. Rahul Gandhi has also worked to lower their morale in this manner," Fadnavis further said.
"He repeatedly speaks lies and then apologises before the court. This is his situation. Nobody will support him in this. He may speak lies every day, but a lie does not have a long life, and nobody can deny the truth," he added.
On allegations over SIR, Fadnavis questioned the Opposition's claims, referring to the West Bengal elections.
"In the West Bengal elections, in the areas where a large number of votes were reduced because of SIR, there are at least 15 such areas where the TMC came through. If SIR removed anti-BJP votes, then how did the TMC come through?" he asked.
Defending the SIR process, Fadnavis said all political parties had the opportunity to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) and raise objections over electoral rolls.
"As far as SIR is concerned, everyone has an opportunity. Every party can appoint its Booth Level Agent, BLA, at every booth, and your BLA has the right to raise objections. You can raise an objection on every single page of the voter list, on every single name in the voter list. If a genuine name has been left out, you can raise an objection. If someone’s name has not appeared, you can raise an objection," he added.
Fadnavis alleged that Opposition parties were not participating in the process and were instead creating controversy.
"You do not want to participate in the process; you want to create a ruckus. You know that the public is not accepting you and that you do not have issues either. That is why they are creating these kinds of issues," he said.
He also made a remark targeting Gandhi over his allegations of "vote theft".
"I want to tell you in very clear words: there has been no vote theft; Rahul Gandhi’s mind has been stolen. Since his mind has been stolen, I would like to request the Prime Minister to constitute a committee that can find his mind and bring it back to him, so that he can speak in the interest of the country, speak what is right, and speak the truth," he said.
The political exchange comes amid a wider row over the EC's functioning after The Indian Express report said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections multiple times over decisions related to the SIR exercise.
Opposition parties, including Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), have called for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation.
Rahul Gandhi had accused the CEC of "match-fixing elections" while citing a Malayalam news channel report claiming that Gyanesh Kumar had approached former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson to contest elections for the BJP in 2026.
Meanwhile, the EC, for its part, has clarified its position, saying all decisions related to the schedule of the SIR of electoral rolls were taken with the "unanimous approval of the Commission".
In its press note, the ECI stated that the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 12 States and Union Territories was issued on October 27, 2025, while the schedule for 19 States and UTs was issued on May 14, 2026, with the unanimous approval of the Commission.
The poll body also added that the order for the SIR issued on June 24, 2025, covering all States and UTs, beginning with Bihar, followed by West Bengal and 30 other States and UTs, was approved unanimously by the Commission.
The ECI also clarified that a letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, which had drawn scrutiny, was related to the functioning of an officer on deputation to the poll body and not to any policy matter. (ANI)
"No vote theft; Rahul Gandhi's mind has been stolen": CM Fadnavis hits back at Congress leader over SIR row
