NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with a "khandani chor" barb, accusing him of misleading people by discrediting the Maharashtra civic poll process while the counting of votes was underway.

This came in response to Gandhi asserting that "vote chori is an anti-national act" and accused the Election Commission of gaslighting citizens amid a row over the quality of 'indelible' ink used in marker pens in Maharashtra civic polls.

Reacting sharply to Gandhi's remarks, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, in a post on X, said, "Bahana (excuse) brigade back! Accepting defeat before counting ends?"

"Rahul Back to doing what he does best -- discredit, distort and disinform. 'Khandani chor' now regurgitating claims of Thackerays," he charged.

Poonawalla also sought to know what came out of Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegations on the Bihar elections.

The BJP has on various occasions slammed Gandhi for his vote theft allegation, terming it "baseless" and an attempt at "hiding his failures".

It has also asked Gandhi and other leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc why they did not file any petition in court or on other platforms challenging the Bihar polls results.