New Delhi, Jan 22 (NationPress) In response to the Karnataka government's announcement to hold elections for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) using ballot papers, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla stated on Thursday that this move has laid bare the Congress party's duplicity. He firmly asserted that regardless of the election method, their defeat is inevitable.

During a conversation with IANS, Poonawalla remarked, "Once again, the 'Bahana Brigade' has devised a reason to shield the Parivar. They now assert that the BBMP elections will utilize ballot papers instead of EVMs. Whether the elections are conducted via ballot or EVM, the outcome will remain unchanged; the Congress will lose. D.K. Suresh, brother of D.K. Shivakumar, claims reverting to ballot papers is akin to regressing."

"This revelation highlights the hypocrisy of the Congress. It was the Congress that initiated the use of EVMs in local elections in Karnataka and subsequently implemented them nationwide," he added.

"The Congress successfully secured victories in the Kerala local elections using EVMs without Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), following wins in Karnataka Assembly, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Jharkhand."

"At that time, the use of EVMs was considered flawless; now they criticize EVMs. The issue lies not with the data but with the 'Beta'; they are attempting to safeguard the 'Beta' while blaming the data," he continued.

Poonawalla also addressed the Madras High Court's decision to dismiss the First Information Report (FIR) against BJP's Amit Malviya for his comments regarding Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin in a social media post.

He remarked, "It is regrettable that after the High Court delivered a strong verdict against the DMK government, underscoring its anti-Hindu stance and history, and following Udhayanidhi Stalin's inflammatory speech advocating for the genocide of Hindus, the DMK has opted for a different route."

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court quashed the FIR filed in 2023 by Tiruchi city police against Amit Malviya for allegedly distorting comments made by Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatan Dharma. Justice S. Srimathy notably stated that Udhayanidhi's comments amounted to "hate speech."

Poonawalla further criticized the Congress for its protests concerning alterations to MGNREGA by the Centre.

"The Congress party is lamenting over MGNREGA? Congress leaders themselves acknowledged that MGNREGA was neither a definitive nor a lasting solution; this was noted by Jairam Ramesh.

Moreover, the NDA government under Prime Minister Modi has allocated significantly more funds to MGNREGA than the Congress ever did. Previously, even Sharad Pawar and P. Chidambaram stated that states should assume a larger share of the financial burden to prevent undue pressure on farmers for accountability," he emphasized.

"The Congress party is anti-Ram, anti-village, against a developed Bharat, and against farmers," he asserted.

He also responded to allegations from the Opposition concerning the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, stating, "When the entire SIR process in Bihar was conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and millions of votes were eliminated through that method, these allegations were raised by the entire Opposition, including Congress, Samajwadi Party, and RJD. However, before the court, their BLAs did not submit a single complaint... They provoke people regarding voter list revisions because the revision is merely an excuse; the real agenda is to enable illegal infiltration and fraudulent entries."