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Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday mocked the Congress over its dismal performance in the MLC polls held across four states, the grand
old party responded to PM Modi's "ballot paper" remark and challenged him to commit to holding all future Lok Sabha and Assembly elections using ballot papers. The face-off between the Congress and the Prime Minister took place in view of PM Modi's X post, stating, "MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states - Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?"
Hitting back at the Prime Minister, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera asked him to demonstrate confidence in the BJP’s prowess by committing to ballot paper voting in all future Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Taking to X, Khera demanded the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the restoration of 13.3 crore voters "deleted illegally".
"If Narendra Modi is so confident that EVMs have no bearing on election results, let him prove his confidence in the BJP’s electoral prowess through action, not rhetoric," he wrote.
Khera further mentioned his four challenges to PM Modi:
- Commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections by ballot paper going forward.
- Suspend SIR and restore the 13.3 crore voters illegally deleted from the electoral rolls.
- Terminate Gyanesh Gupta.
- Repeal the law that gives lifelong immunity to Gyanesh Gupta
BJP Takes A Dig At Congress
Following Congress' poor show in the MLC polls held across four states, BJP national president Nitin Nabin also took a dig at the grand old party, saying that the party would continue to struggle for survival under Rahul Gandhi's leadership.Addressing BJP's 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' march in the national capital, Nabin said that PM Modi would return to the Red Fort after the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. He further accused the Congress of opposing the cleaning of electoral rolls because it was distressed by efforts to remove alleged infiltrators.
“There are voters who have died but whose names remain on the electoral rolls. There are also people whose names appear in the voter lists at two places. There are crores of such voters whose names are registered more than once, while the whereabouts of many others cannot be traced. This is what is called a ‘ghost voter list’,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the Congress poll loss, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta shared a picture on X mocking Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
"Aryabhatta invented 0 to count the numbers of seats congress won," she wrote.
Congress Wins 0 On 28 MLC Seats Across 4 States
The Congress on Wednesday drew a blank in the biennial elections for 28 Legislative Council seats across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka.The party suffered its biggest setback in Karnataka, where it is in power. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) alliance swept all four seats in the Karnataka, including one held by a sitting Congress MLC.
