Fadnavis slams Rahul Gandhi over allegations about irregularities in Maharashtra assembly polls
Pune(PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations about irregularities in the state assembly elections, saying instead of wiping the dust off his face, the Congress leader was cleaning the mirror.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Friday claimed that more voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and state polls than in five years before.
Between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections, 39 lakh new voters were added in just five months, he claimed.
Speaking at the Jaipur Dialogues Deccan Summit Pune 2025, the chief minister dismissed reports about discontent in the Mahayuti and Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde's stand in the ruling alliance.
"Shinde has a serious personality. The media is spreading false claims about him being upset," he said.
Fadnavis questioned Gandhi's allegations about irregularities in the 2024 state assembly elections.
"The number of voters keeps increasing in the assembly polls held after every Lok Sabha election. Many people didn't find their name in the voters' list during the Lok Sabha elections. When we followed up on this issue, the Election Commission of India (ECI) launched a campaign, and a large number of new voters were included. Instead of wiping the dust off his face, Rahul Gandhi is cleaning the mirror," he said.
Fadnavis further accused the Congress leader of strengthening urban Naxalism.
"He (Gandhi) expresses distrust in institutions in our system. Due to this, urban Naxals are trying to destroy the public's trust in our democratic set-up. Rahul Gandhi is strengthening them," he said.
The chief minister said the Mahayuti could win the 2024 assembly elections because Maharashtra accepted the "ek hai toh safe hai" slogan.
In the 2024 assembly elections, the Mahayuti coalition of BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena won 230 of the 288 seats in the state. BJP led the pack with 132 seats. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was reduced to 46 seats, with NCP (SP) and Sena (UBT) getting 10 and 20, respectively.
"We witnessed the first example of 'ek hai toh safe hai' during the Maharashtra elections, and now, we have seen it play out in Delhi as well," he said, referring to the BJP's big win in the assembly elections in the capital.
He claimed that the Lok Sabha elections saw the impact of "vote jihad", which led to a division of votes, and this split cost the BJP 12 crucial seats, including Dhule, where the margin of defeat was merely 4,000 votes.
"During the state elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed out how people were being divided along caste lines, which, in turn, emboldened forces seeking to create instability in the country. People noted this and voted accordingly in the assembly elections," Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis rejected Uddhav Thackeray's claim that the BJP had promise him the chief minister's post after the 2019 assembly polls.
"After the poll results were out, the Shiv Sena suddenly held a press conference separately, announcing that all options were open for them. When I tried to contact him (Thackeray), he didn't even take my call," he said.
He claimed that the BJP later found out about NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar's pre-poll understanding with the Shiv Sena.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
