Show proof of 'vote chori': Rajnath Singh to Rahul Gandhi

PATNA/NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday slammed Congress neta Rahul Gandhi for claiming to have an "atom bomb of evidence of vote theft" against Election Commission of India, and dared him to detonate the explosive.

At an event organised by a media house in Patna, Singh also likened the upcoming state polls to a crossroad, with one path (under NDA) leading to further progress and another (under the INDIA bloc) taking Bihar back to its old era of lawlessness and caste strife.


"Rahul Gandhi says he is in possession of an atom bomb. If it is so, he should detonate it at once. He should just ensure that he is himself out of harm's way," Singh said.

Gandhi had Friday said that his party has an "atom bomb" of evidence to prove "vote chori" by EC for BJP, remarks that evoked a sharp response from the poll panel.

The commission termed Gandhi's remarks as "baseless and wild allegations".

Singh also said the nation remembers his past rhetoric. "Rahul had threatened Parliament of an earthquake, but when he spoke, it turned out to be a damp squib."

Singh said EC is an institution that enjoys a reputation for unquestionable integrity. "It is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the upcoming assembly polls in the state are held in a free and fair manner. It does not behove the leader of the opposition to make frivolous statements about a constitutional body," the BJP MP from Lucknow said.

The defence minister reminded the LoP that his own party has blood on its hands, having tried to murder democracy in 1975 with the imposition of the Emergency.

The defence minister also criticised the Congress-led opposition for raising questions about Operation Sindoor instead of paying tributes to the valour displayed by the Indian armed forces.

The former BJP president alleged that the Congress had been soft on insurgency while in office, and tried to frame innocent people by spinning the theory of saffron terror because of vote bank considerations.