Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President N. Ramchander Rao on Wednesday, 28 October challenged Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to abandon what he called false narratives around electronic voting machines (EVMs) and alleged vote theft, arguing that the BJP's victory in a ballot-paper election had rendered those arguments untenable.

The Trigger: Karnataka Council By-election

Rao's remarks followed a notable setback for the ruling Congress in Karnataka, where the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) on Tuesday wrested the Bengaluru Teachers' Constituency seat in the state Legislative Council from the party. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate A.P. Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna in a contest conducted entirely through ballot papers — not EVMs — depriving the opposition of its standard post-defeat explanation.

What BJP's Telangana Chief 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,' Rao said in remarks to reporters.

Rao further alleged that Gandhi had been making repeated claims about vote theft without substantiation. '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.

Voter Deletion Row in Delhi

Rao also took aim at the Congress over its allegations of large-scale voter deletions in Delhi, saying the party had failed to produce evidence. '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 can be removed from electoral rolls for several legitimate reasons — including the death of the voter, duplicate entries, or a change of residence — and that affected voters could apply for re-inclusion through a prescribed process.

Congress leaders allege that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, supervised by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is being misused ahead of the Delhi assembly cycle. On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi, addressing a 'Jan Sunwai' event in Trilokpuri in the national capital, claimed that 416 voters had been illegally removed from four polling booths in the area. '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.

Opposition's Escalating Demand

Gandhi asserted that the opposition would keep up its protest against the SIR exercise until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigned or Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed him. Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal separately accused the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of pressuring Delhi Police to obstruct the opposition's planned 30 October protest — which the party described as a 'public impeachment of the CEC' — ahead of a larger 1 November rally.

What This Signals

The exchange underscores a deepening political battle over electoral credibility ahead of Delhi's assembly election cycle. The BJP has seized on the Karnataka by-election result to sharpen its counter-narrative, while the Congress shows no sign of backing down on its demand for accountability from the Election Commission. How the SIR exercise and the CEC controversy play out in the coming days is expected to shape the terms of the pre-election debate in the capital.