Telangana BJP Slams Congress Over 'Double Standards' on EVMs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of adopting a contradictory stand on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the opposition questions the electoral process only after defeats while accepting the same system when it wins.

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, BJP spokesperson N.V. Subash congratulated Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on his victory in the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar. He said the BJP respects the people's mandate irrespective of the outcome and accepts election results with dignity.

Subash said the BJP neither disputes the verdict of the electorate after a loss nor treats every victory as an occasion for political triumphalism. "The people's mandate is supreme, and the BJP has consistently respected it," he said.

Taking aim at the Congress and its allies, Subash questioned their repeated allegations over EVMs, the Election Commission, and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He alleged that the opposition routinely raises doubts about constitutional institutions after electoral setbacks but remains silent when the results go in its favour.

He described the Congress' approach as politically inconsistent, claiming that the party blames the Narendra Modi government, the Election Commission and EVMs after losing elections, but hails the verdict as the will of the people whenever it emerges victorious.

The BJP leader said repeated attacks on constitutional institutions without evidence erode public confidence in democratic institutions. He added that the party would continue to stand by the people of Bihar, Telangana, and the rest of the country while respecting every electoral verdict.

Meanwhile, the recently concluded Assembly by-elections produced mixed results across three states. In the Bankipur bypoll, Prashant Kishor secured his maiden electoral victory by defeating BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes, ending the BJP's nearly three-decade hold over the constituency.

In Madhya Pradesh's Datia Assembly constituency, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeated BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,016 votes. In Gujarat's Manjalpur Assembly constituency, BJP candidate Satendrabhai Patel registered a decisive victory over Congress nominee Bhikhabhai Rabari, winning by a margin of 30,630 votes.