Maharashtra civic polls: The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) social media handle on X didn’t miss a chance to take a dig at LoP Rahul Gandhi using the “Prathistha, Parampara” meme over Maharashtra civic poll results on Friday. While vote counting is still underway, the BJP–Shiv Sena Mahayuti is emerging victorious, and the Congress is trailing.
A 19-second video meme that swaps Varun Dhawan’s face with Gandhi’s, with the caption “Mummy me phirse election haar gaya” (“Mom, I lost the election again”), has gone viral.
BJP's ‘Khandani chor’ jibe at Gandhi
The BJP's sharp attack on Gandhi used the “khandani chor” jibe. It accused him of misleading the public by casting doubts on the Maharashtra civic election process.
Responding strongly to Gandhi’s comments, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to X to criticise him, saying, “Bahana (excuse) brigade back! Accepting defeat before counting ends?” He further accused Gandhi of undermining the electoral process, alleging that he was once again attempting to mislead the public. "Rahul Back to doing what he does best -- discredit, distort and disinform. 'Khandani chor' now regurgitating claims of Thackerays," Poonawalla charged.
This followed Gandhi’s claim that "vote chori [theft] is an anti-national act", along with his allegation that the Election Commission was “gaslighting” citizens amid controversy surrounding the quality of the ‘indelible’ ink used in marker pens during Thursday’s Maharashtra civic polls.
A total of 29 Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra held polling on Thursday.
BMC elections
Meanwhile, according to the latest trends at 5 PM, the BJP–Shiv Sena saffron alliance was ahead in 130 of the 227 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, comfortably outpacing the Thackeray brothers’ camp, which was leading in 71 seats. The BJP was set to emerge as the single largest party in India’s richest civic body with 93 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena was ahead in 27, according to ANI.
Among the opposition, Shiv Sena (UBT) was leading in 62 seats, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in nine, the Congress in 14, and the NCP (SP) in one seat.
