Patna: Reacting to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's recent statements on elections, Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday said that the Congress MP has already accepted defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections, which is why he is making such statements. Paswan further said that if Rahul Gandhi needs to find faults in any institution, it should be his own party Congress. "... The problem with Congress and its leaders is that when introspection is needed, they look for excuses for losing elections... If Rahul Gandhi needs to find faults in any institution, it should not be a constitutional institution, but his own Congress party... Blaming the Election Commission, accusing someone of fixing elections, saying that the EVM is faulty, all this shows that Rahul Gandhi has already accepted defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections... After Bihar, these people will lose states like Assam and Bengal," Chirag Paswan told reporters. Bihar assembly polls will be held later this year. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Bihar assembly LoP, Tejashwi Yadav, strongly backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing the BJP of hijacking constitutional institutions under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule. Speaking to the mediapersons on Sunday, Tejashwi said, "Ever since Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister, all constitutional institutions have been hijacked. Before the ECI announces the elections, the BJP IT Cell knows the schedule. We have our eyes on everything. The constitutional institutions must carry out their duties honestly... Everyone needs to stay alert. Everyone knows that all institutions work as a proxy of the BJP." "Everyone is working together, not to form the government, but to strengthen Bihar," he added. Earlier on Saturday, in a post on X, Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, referred to the ECI's response to his allegations concerning Maharashtra polls and said "releasing unsigned, evasive notes to intermediaries is not the way to respond to serious questions". In response, ECI described Rahul Gandhi's Maharashtra election poll rigging as "unsubstantiated allegations." "Unsubstantiated allegations raised against the Electoral Rolls of Maharashtra are affront to the rule of law. The Election Commission had brought out all these facts in its reply to the INC on 24th December 2024 itself, which is available on ECI's website. It appears that all these facts are completely being ignored while raising such issues again and again," it said. "Any misinformation being spread, by anyone, is not only a sign of disrespect towards the Law, but also brings disrepute to the thousands of representatives appointed by their own political party and demotivates lakhs of election staff who work untiringly and transparently during elections. After any unfavourable verdict by the voters, trying to defame the Election Commission by saying that it is compromised, is completely absurd," it added.
