CHENNAI: BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of "fleeing abroad to escape electoral humiliation," even as he chaired a high-stakes review meet on voter roll irregularities, most notably the BJP's long-standing allegation of large-scale bogus voters in Chief Minister MK Stalin's Kolathur Assembly constituency.
Chugh addressed reporters ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) review meeting at Kamalalayam, the TN BJP headquarters in T Nagar here.
The closed-door meeting brought together key leaders, including national executive member and SIR coordinator K Annamalai, senior functionaries Arvind Menon and Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, and over 150 district office-bearers, booth agents and organisational heads from 11 districts.
A substantial part of the discussion centred on Kolathur. The BJP has repeatedly accused the ruling party of harbouring a "disproportionate number of fictitious voters." Leaders insisted that the constituency, represented by the Chief Minister himself, required "extraordinary scrutiny" during the ongoing revision process to restore public confidence in electoral integrity.
Earlier, speaking to the reporters, Chugh said the nationwide intensive revision was fundamental to protecting democracy. "This exercise is to identify and safeguard genuine voters. It is meant to strengthen the electoral system, not weaken it," he said.
He alleged that the Opposition, including the Congress, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party, was resisting the revision because transparent voter lists would "expose their inflated vote banks." Citing the NDA's Bihar victory, Chugh said, "A clean voter list ensured a clean election. Unable to face defeat, Rahul Gandhi has now fled abroad. Instead of introspecting, he is running away."
Chugh urged citizens to be "vigilant and participative" in the revision to ensure accuracy. He also remarked that Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindi were among India's oldest linguistic heritages and should not be politically pitted against each other.
The BJP, he added, would continue to push for rigorous verification in constituencies where irregularities were suspected, emphasising that safeguarding the nation's voting rights required unwavering electoral discipline.