Hyderabad, Oct 28 — Telangana BJP President N. Ramchander Rao on Wednesday urged Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to stop spreading what he described as lies and false narratives about electronic voting machines (EVMs) and alleged vote theft, saying the BJP's victory in a ballot paper election had exposed the Opposition's claims.
His remarks came after a setback for the ruling Congress in Karnataka, where the JD(S) on Tuesday wrested the Bengaluru Teachers' Constituency seat in the Legislative Council from the party. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate A.P. Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna in the election, which was conducted through ballot papers.
Speaking to IANS, Rao said, "Mr. Rahul Gandhi should, at least now, stop spreading lies and giving false narratives. The ballot paper elections have again proved that the BJP has won. Now, what does Rahul Gandhi have to say? He used to blame EVMs whenever the BJP won. Now, the BJP has won in a ballot paper election as well."
He alleged that Gandhi was repeatedly making false claims about EVMs and vote theft.
"Again and again, he is spreading falsehoods with regard to EVMs or vote theft. He talks about vote theft, but unfortunately, it is a theft of logic. He has no logic left," the BJP leader said.
Rao also criticised the Congress over its allegations of voter deletions in Delhi, claiming that the party had failed to provide evidence to substantiate its charges.
"Yesterday, in Delhi, they claimed that many votes had been deleted. However, they have not provided proof of which votes were deleted so far," he said.
He added that voter names could be removed from electoral rolls for several reasons, including the death of voters, duplicate entries and changes in residence.
Rao also pointed out that people whose names had been deleted could seek their inclusion in the electoral rolls through the prescribed process.
"Again and again, Rahul Gandhi is repeating the same lies. People have now understood that vote theft and EVMs are merely excuses. The Congress has been out of power for 12 years, and out of frustration, it is trying to create anarchy," Rao alleged.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that the Opposition would continue protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigned or Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed him.
Addressing a 'Jan Sunwai' event in Trilokpuri in the national capital, Gandhi alleged that 416 voters had been illegally removed from four polling booths in the area during the SIR exercise.
"We have seen here that in four booths, 416 voters have been illegally removed. We have raised questions with the Chief Election Commissioner, but he refuses to answer and hides. But we will not stop," Gandhi said.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal also accused the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of pressuring the Delhi Police to obstruct the Opposition's proposed October 30 protest, described by the party as a "public impeachment of the CEC", ahead of the November 1 rally.