Bawankule hits back at Rahul over poll charges; says he should worry more about Congress' survival
Mumbai(PTI): Maharashtra minister and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of discrepancies in the state voters' list, saying the Congress leader has gone "insane" and that he should worry more about his party's survival.
Bawankule said the BJP learnt from the loss it faced in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and took corrective steps that ensured the Mahayuti's victory in the ensuing assembly polls.
Last week, Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, addressed a joint press conference with Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule in Delhi, where he claimed that more voters were added in five months between the Lok Sabha and state polls than in the five years before that.
Maharashtra's adult population is 9.54 crore while the voter population in the assembly polls was 9.7 crore, Gandhi pointed out and asked why there were more registered voters in the assembly elections of 2024 than the entire adult population of Maharashtra.
Talking to reporters here over Gandhi's allegations, Bawankule said, "He has gone insane. He is losing power. But Gandhi should be more worried about whether Congress will survive or not."
Talking about the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance could win only 17 out of the total 48 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won 31 seats.
"We lost the Lok Sabha elections by merely two lakh votes. While we got 2.48 crore votes, the MVA received 2.50 crore votes. But Rahul Gandhi kept mum over it. He did not comment on the narrow margins of his party's win," he said.
Bawankule said that after the assembly polls, his party focused on correcting its mistakes.
"We worked on 29 points, learned from our mistakes and took corrective measures. The then deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis worked on several fronts to improve the party's performance and we fought as one unit. On the other hand, Congress and other MVA leaders started assuming that they would win the assembly elections as well and they got detached from the ground reality," he said.
Bawankule compared the vote shares of the BJP and Congress in the elections, stating, "We went from 2.48 crore votes in the Lok Sabha to 3.17 crore in the assembly polls, while their vote share was reduced from 2.50 crore to 2.17 crore. Their vote share eroded by 33 lakh, and that is not our fault."
The BJP leader noted that nearly 250 leaders of his party from different parts of the country visited Maharashtra for campaigning during the assembly polls.
He criticised the Congress and its leadership, stating, "Their leader Rahul Gandhi does not study...he is not even creating his own space. He should study the country first before speaking."
Congress does not have any future and by 2047 many leaders would have left the party, he said.
Referring to Gandhi's remarks about voter registration ahead of the assembly elections, Bawankule claimed the Congress got 15,000 new voters enrolled in his Kamthi constituency in Nagpur district.
"Although BJP won the Kamthi assembly seat for five consecutive terms, I was trailing by 11,000 votes in the city. I eventually managed to win the seat with a margin of 1.70 lakh votes. So, it is wrong for the Congress to say that only the BJP undertook the voter registration drive. All the parties had conducted voters' registration drive before the assembly elections," he said.
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Activists write open letter to Odisha govt flagging anti-Christian violence
New Delhi: Activists and rights campaigners John Dayal, Aakar Patel, Vidya Dinker and Harsh Mander have expressed serious concern over the alleged rise in violence and intimidation against Christians in several districts, accusing both Hindutva organisations and sections of the police of targeting the minority community.
In a strongly worded communication addressed to the state administration, the signatories said they had received disturbing testimonies from affected people regarding social boycott, denial of burial rights, physical assaults and police intimidation.
According to the activists, Christians in some areas were allegedly boycotted by villagers, while people who traded with them, employed them or provided them shelter were also targeted.
The letter also highlighted what it described as “gruesome” incidents involving the prevention of burials of Christians within village burial grounds and even on privately owned lands belonging to Christian families. The activists said there were cases where bodies remained unburied for days due to opposition from local groups, while in some instances burials were allegedly forced to take place in forest areas outside village limits. Funeral prayers were also reportedly disrupted.
The signatories further alleged that in certain districts the violence escalated into physical assaults on Christians. They claimed that some victims were tied to trees and beaten, while others were allegedly placed inside sacks and assaulted. The letter also mentioned a few reported instances of sexual violence and attempts to burn people alive, which, according to them, were stopped at the last moment.
Expressing particular concern, the activists said many victims had testified that police personnel joined hands with Hindutva organisations to force Christians into signing “compromise” agreements. These agreements allegedly required them to give up their faith and stop collective worship.
The letter also accused the police of registering serious criminal cases against victims of attacks instead of taking action against the attackers. According to the signatories, many of those attacked were detained in police stations and jails, while in some cases the police themselves allegedly played a direct role in intimidation and violence against Christians.
Stating that there appeared to be a “complete breakdown in the constitutional machinery of the state” in relation to Christian minorities, the activists urged the administration to uphold and protect the constitutional and religious rights of all citizens without discrimination based on religion, caste or creed.
The letter was signed by John Dayal, Aakar Patel, Vidya Dinker and Harsh Mander.
