BJP Slams Congress Over EVM Claims After Poor Show In Paper Ballot Polls

BJP leader N Ramchander Rao criticized Congress for blaming EVMs after the party's failure in recent paper ballot MLC elections, while PM Modi mocked their poor performance in a clean sweep by the NDA in Karnataka Legislative Council seats.

BJP Criticizes Congress Over EVM Allegations

BJP Telangana president N Ramchander Rao on Thursday criticised the Congress regarding its repeated allegations against Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), claiming that the party had received its answer after elections conducted through paper ballots. His remarks came following the MLC elections across 28 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka, where Congress won one seat in Maharashtra.

Referring to paper ballot elections, he claimed the results answered allegations levelled by the Congress. “Time and again, whenever Congress starts losing elections, they blame either the Election Commission of India or the EVMs. Today, paper ballot elections were held in various parts of the country, and Congress failed to win even a single seat. Therefore, the Congress party has now received its answer...” Rao told ANI.

Congress and the History of EVMs

Rao pointed out that Congress itself introduced EVMs in the country. “The Congress party has always blamed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the BJP's victories. In fact, it was the Congress party that introduced EVMs in the country, with the first trial runs conducted under a Congress government in Keralam,” Rao said.

NDA Performance in Karnataka MLC Polls

This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a jab at the Congress following the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) clean sweep in Karnataka Legislative Council elections, winning all four seats. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections were held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?"

The Prime Minister’s sarcastic post comes as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies recorded strong performances, including a 4-0 sweep by the NDA in the Karnataka Legislative Council polls, while the Congress suffered significant setbacks.

Election Details and Results

Karnataka Legislative Council elections were held for two Teachers' and two Graduates' seats on October 23. The NDA ran three BJP candidates and one JD(S) candidate. In Bengaluru Teachers, JD(S) candidate AP Ranganath defeated five-time Congress MLC Puttanna.

In North-East Teachers, BJP candidate Shashil G. Namoshi won for the fifth time, defeating Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur by 3,297 votes (15,596 votes to 12,299). Counting finished in Kalaburagi, where about 30,253 people voted. Of those votes, 28,380 were valid, and 1,873 were rejected.

In the graduates' seats, BJP candidates S V Sankanur and K M Suresh also won, completing the NDA's total sweep of all four seats. In the West Graduates' seat, Sankanur won for the third straight time, defeating Mohan Limbikai of the Congress. (ANI)

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