Modi had advantage in ‘controlled’ election, says Rahul

NEW DELHI: India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday he did not view this year’s two-month general elections as a free exercise, but rather as one structured to deliver an advantage to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without citing evidence.

But Modi suffered a rare setback instead, as the opposition made a strong showing, costing his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) its outright majority and forcing it to turn to coalition partners for the first time in a decade to retain power. “They (BJP) had a huge financial advantage and they had locked our bank accounts,” Gandhi said at an event at Georgetown University in Washington.

“The Election Commission was doing what they wanted. The entire campaign was structured so that Mr. Modi could do his thing across the country,” he added.

Gandhi said, “I don’t believe that in a fair election, the BJP would come anywhere near 240 seats. I would be surprised.”

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 240 seats on its own, or 32 short of half the 543 members in parliament’s lower house, but formed the government, as his 15-party National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats.

The opposition INDIA alliance led by Gandhi’s centrist Congress party won 230 seats. Congress on it own won 99.

The Election Commission did not respond to the comments. In response, Agricultural Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Gandhi was trying to besmirch the image of the nation, an activity he sought to portray as treasonous.