New Delhi, 30 September (H.S.): Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday criticised the Congress and other opposition parties over the INDIA bloc meeting, asserting that the alliance was unwilling to accept Rahul Gandhi as its leader. He also claimed that even leaders within the Congress were not prepared to recognise Gandhi as their leader and questioned how the people of the country could be expected to do so.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said there was no consensus among opposition parties over Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. He attributed the absence of several INDIA bloc constituents from the meeting to this lack of consensus.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Rahul Gandhi himself had, during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, called for being accepted as the leader and urged party members to repose their confidence in him.

He claimed that the INDIA bloc appeared divided even before the meeting began. According to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was not attending the meeting, while Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav was also absent. The Aam Aadmi Party had already declined to participate, he said. Shivraj Singh Chouhan added that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray would not attend the meeting physically but would join virtually.

On the issue of electoral rolls, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said a clean and accurate voter list was essential to the functioning of democracy. He argued that the inclusion of incorrect names in electoral rolls could affect the democratic process and questioned why there should be any objection to removing the name of a person who has died from the voter list.

He also questioned why the name of anyone who is not an Indian citizen should be included in the electoral roll. According to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, maintaining accurate and reliable voter lists is essential for the integrity of the democratic process.

Taking aim at the Congress, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said some political parties, when unable to win elections, blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their defeat. He questioned the allegations of vote theft, asking why election results differed across states if votes had actually been stolen. He cited the Samajwadi Party’s victory in 37 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh as an example.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that accusations of vote theft were being used as an explanation after electoral defeats. He claimed that voters were increasingly recognising what he described as such political tactics and that this was reflected in the Congress receiving less public support than in the past.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar