‘Dhool Chehre Pe Thi Aur Aap Aina Saaf Karte Rahe’: CM Fadnavis Gives Scathing Reply to Rahul Gandhi’s Election Commission Criticism
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave a scathing reply to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, denouncing his constant grievances against the Election Commission of India and questioning the opposition leader for not understanding the mood of the people consistently.
In a Hindi-language media interaction, Fadnavis used a rich metaphor to characterize Gandhi’s response, saying: “Ta-umr Rahul Gandhi aap yahi galti karte rahe, dhool chehre pe thi aur aap aina saaf karte rahe” (All through your life, Rahul Gandhi, you have kept committing the same error; there was dust on your face, but you kept cleaning the mirror).
The Chief Minister’s statement came in the wake of rising tensions on allegations of electoral misconduct, as some opposition leaders raised eyebrows over the purity of constitutional institutions.
Earlier during the day, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Bihar Assembly’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav backed Gandhi’s accusations against the Election Commission. Speaking to media personnel on Sunday, Yadav accused systematic takeover of democratic institutions since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power.
“Since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, all constitutional institutions have been hijacked. The BJP IT Cell already knows the schedule before the ECI declares the elections. We keep an eye on everything. The constitutional institutions should work honestly in performing their work. Everyone should remain alert. Everybody is well aware that all institutions act as a proxy of the BJP,” Yadav stated.
The RJD leader emphasized that opposition unity extends beyond electoral politics, adding, “Everyone is working together, not to form the government, but to strengthen Bihar.”
These initiatives are a follow-up to Gandhi’s official appeal to the Election Commission seeking publication of detailed, digitized electoral rolls of recent parliamentary and state assembly elections in all states, including Maharashtra. The Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition claimed that transparency would serve to uphold the reputation of the electoral body.
Gandhi has intensified his Saturday attack in a social media statement on X, where he commented on the reaction of the ECI to his Maharashtra election issues. He has described the commission’s response as weak, stating that “releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions.”
The Election Commission reacted strongly to Gandhi’s charges, flatly denying his allegations of manipulation of the polls as groundless. In a formal statement, the ECI labeled Gandhi’s charges about Maharashtra’s voters rolls as “unsubstantiated” and against legal principle.
“Unsubstantiated claims against Maharashtra Electoral Rolls are an insult to the rule of law. All these facts had been brought out by the Election Commission itself in its response to the INC on 24th December 2024, which can be accessed on the website of ECI. Looks like all these facts are totally being overlooked while raising such matters repeatedly,” said the commission.
The voting population also condemned efforts to erode its credibility, and it added that such efforts disprove and disrespect legal frameworks and demoralize election officials. “Any disinformation being propagated, by anyone, is not only disrespect to the Law, but also disrepute to the lakhs of representatives elected by their political party and demoralizes lakhs of election officials who work tirelessly and in the open during polls. After any adverse judgment by the voters, attempting to tarnish the reputation of the Election Commission by stating that it is biased, is utterly ridiculous,” the ECI added.
The exchange raises lingering tensions between opposition forces and electoral commissions, with issues regarding institutional independence being a recurrent theme in modern Indian politics.