Mumbai, Sep 18 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday launched a sharp attack on Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, terming his mindset “anarchic” and accusing him of eroding public trust in constitutional institutions to mask repeated electoral failures.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai, Fadnavis dismissed Gandhi’s recent criticisms regarding the election symbols and names of regional parties such as the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Trinamool Congress.
“Rahul Gandhi refuses to accept that the people of India have rejected his leadership. His problem is simple: the injury is on his forehead, but he keeps tying the bandage on his knee. The day he realises what the citizens of India truly want and why they stand firmly behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his electoral losing streak might end,” remarked Fadnavis.
The Chief Minister said Gandhi was pushing a dangerous narrative aimed at undermining democratic structures.
“He is attempting to defame the institutions created by the Indian Constitution so that people lose faith in them. Once public faith in these institutions breaks down, trust in democracy shatters, leading to a complete erosion of faith in the Constitution itself,” he said.
Fadnavis’ remarks came after Gandhi, in a post on X, strongly criticised the Election Commission, accusing it of aiding forces that overturn the people’s verdict. Gandhi referred to the EC’s order freezing the Trinamool Congress name and symbol.
LoP Rahul Gandhi said: “First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern: BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then it snatches away its election symbol. When an entire party can be stolen, it’s hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too. Vote theft. Government theft. Now, party theft, these have become symbols of our democratic decline.”
He further stated: “The ECI’s constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate, but instead, it’s aiding those very forces that overturn the people’s verdict. This fight isn’t just Mamata Banerjee’s. It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections.”
–IANS
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