'We failed to achieve 400-paar target, should we allege vote theft’: Athawale hits out at Oppn

Mumbai: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said the Opposition has every right to hold meetings and organise peaceful protests over the alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but asserted that demonstrations cannot be used to change an elected government. He also said that as the NDA failed to achieve its target of 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, should it also allege 'vote theft.’

Speaking to IANS, Athawale said the Opposition's concerns regarding the accuracy of electoral rolls should be addressed, including allegations of bogus voting and the wrongful deletion of voters' names. However, he questioned the Opposition's allegations of vote theft and accused it of looking for excuses to protest against the government.

"I believe the Opposition has every right to hold meetings and organise peaceful protests regarding the SIR issue. If their demand is legitimate, that vote theft occurred or that SIR is not right, their stance is that the electoral roll must be correct, and bogus voting or wrongful deletion of voters should not happen," he said.

Athawale further questioned whether the Opposition could be accused of manipulating the 2024 Lok Sabha elections because the BJP-led NDA did not achieve the target of 400-plus seats set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"When PM Modi announced the '400 paar' goal and we didn't achieve that many seats, should we accuse them of stealing votes to get more seats? The Opposition simply has no other issue, so they invent excuses on every topic to continue protesting against the government or the elections," he alleged.

The Union Minister also criticised Opposition leaders for repeatedly predicting the fall of the government, saying their claims had not materialised.

"They keep talking nonsense in their dreams; there is no meaning in what they say. Even earlier, Sanjay Raut used to say that the government would fall in 2024, but there was no possibility or indication of the government falling," Athawale said.

He added that the NDA had secured 237 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, claiming that the Opposition was restless and agitated over the electoral outcome.

"The people, our sisters, and everyone voted for us in such numbers that, we won 237 seats. So, I feel the Opposition is completely restless, unstable and agitated. Immense arrogance has built up in their minds, and they think they can change the government through agitations," he said.

Athawale invoked the Constitution drafted under the leadership of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, stating that governments change through the democratic electoral process and not through protests.

"According to B.R. Ambedkar's Constitution, the election is held after five years. There is democracy here, and there is the Constitution too, and the change of government is according to that only. You should go to the people and appeal to them to vote for you if they like you," he said.

He further said India was a constitutional democracy and could not be compared with Bangladesh, asserting that prolonged protests would not bring about a change of government.

"Several protests have happened in the country, but it is not Bangladesh, it is India. And there is the Constitution of India. But regime change is not possible through protests," Athawale added.

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