Pune: All India Congress Committee in-charge of Maharashtra, Ramesh Chennithala, on Tuesday said free and fair elections would not be possible in the country till the time Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were in the govt.Chennithala was in the city to address the concluding session of the two-day workshop organised for the newly appointed Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee in Khadakwasla. He alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had become a puppet in the hands of the govt. “It is impossible to think about free and fair elections in the country till the time Modi and Shah are in the govt. When we are raising questions over the election process, BJP has come forward to defend the ECI. Till the time the ECI does not work fearlessly, we will continue our fight to revive democracy in the country,” he said.Reacting sharply, chief spokesperson of state BJP Keshav Upadhye said, “Congress, which once participated in the freedom struggle, is creating anarchy in the country by attacking constitutional bodies. Before making any comment against the Prime Minister and the Union home minister, Congress members should tell the citizens who imposed the Emergency? If Congress members have any evidence of vote theft, they should go to the court. The entire country knows that Congress is making baseless allegations to create a false narrative against BJP and constitutional bodies.”Chennithala, referring to the Maharashtra assembly polls, said, “MVA got maximum seats in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, but the assembly poll results were totally different within a few months. If the assembly polls were conducted in a fair manner, MVA would have formed the govt, but BJP, with the help of the ECI, snatched away votes in its favour. After Haryana and Maharashtra, BJP will prepare a similar pattern in Bihar.“He said, “Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi gave an example of Mahadevapura constituency from Karnataka to expose vote theft. Similar theft happened in Maharashtra’s Shirdi, Kamthi and even the chief minister’s constituency. We complained to the ECI, but it did not take action.”Criticising the central govt’s stand over the US President’s decision of imposing heavy tariffs on India, Chennithala said, “Before this govt, no US president could dare to threaten us. Now, Trump is openly threatening us, but Modi is scared to even reply to him. It clearly shows that our foreign policy has collapsed.”‘It’s their family matter’On the possible reunion of Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, All India Congress Committee in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala said, “Raj Thackeray is not a part of our alliance. We do not know about their alliance. It is their family matter and if they come together as a family, we have no issues. We will discuss in our political affairs committee meeting whether he (Raj) will be a part of our (MVA) alliance or not.”
