BJP accuses Rahul Gandhi of displaying ‘selective outrage’ over ECI remarks

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday (August 7, 2025) accused Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of showing “selective outrage”, stating that his allegation about “large-scale” electoral roll fraud was a sign of “frustration and election rage”.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Mr. Gandhi had completely lost his “composure in the agony of losing power”. “The ideologically hollow Congress party is systematically attacking constitutional institutions. It cannot be ruled out that there is a larger conspiracy against India’s democracy and Constitution behind this calculated deceit. After all, their family’s history is also filled with the dark chapter of the ‘Emergency’,” he posted on X.

Mr. Pradhan said by attacking the EC, Mr. Gandhi was insulting the discerning decision of the public, which was universally accepted in a democracy. “Where was Rahul Gandhi when the EC invited every party to file complaints regarding the SIR [Special Intensive Revision] in Bihar? Neither Congress nor any party from the INDI Alliance approached the EC at that time,” he said.

“This double standard will no longer work — praising the EC when victorious and calling it biased when defeated! Rahul Gandhi needs to understand that his family’s victory is not the definition of democracy. The people of Bihar are now ready to give a befitting reply to such opponents of democracy and the Constitution,” said the Union Minister.

At a press conference, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress leader was displaying “selective outrage” as he never made such accusations with respect to the States where his party won. “When they got 99 seats in the Lok Sabha election, the Congress celebrated all over the country. They did not allege the EC was compromised,” he said.

Mr. Patra said the BJP, which remained in the Opposition for long, never resorted to the kind of indecorous language used by Mr. Gandhi. “He threatened that if the Opposition comes to power, the EC officials would face ‘serious consequences’,” he said, adding that the language showed his “frustration” and “election rage”.

“If you think that there were irregularities in the Maharashtra polls, you should have instructed your partymen to approach the court within the prescribed time period. You did not go to court, your proxy petitioned the Bombay High Court. The court dismissed the plea terming it a gross abuse of the process of law. Then, a Constitutional Bench of High Court found no evidence of fraud or illegal voting and emphasised that the petitioner had failed to demonstrate any personal legal injury or enforceable right...,” said Mr. Patra.

Referring to the EC’s letter to Mr. Gandhi asking him to submit through an affidavit the relevant papers supporting the charges made on Thursday, the BJP leader said the Congress’s Karnataka unit had gone to the EC on August 3. “On August 6, the EC asked them to come on August 8. However, Mr. Gandhi held the press conference a day earlier...,” said Mr. Patra.

The BJP leader said after Mr. Gandhi raised objections related to the Maharashtra election for the first time in November 2024, the EC had invited him for a discussion. However, he did not meet them. Then, taking note of his news article published on the election, it again sought a meeting, but he did not go.

Responding to Mr. Gandhi’s “My word is my oath” remarks, Mr. Patra said the Congress leader’s words had “no meaning”. “That is the reason you have to give the details in an affidavit to the EC,” he said.

Questioning Mr. Gandhi’s charge that the BJP used the Pulwama terror attack to reverse “anti-incumbency”, the BJP leader asked if it was an attempt to insinuate that the attack was orchestrated by India. He said the manner in which the Congress leader raised doubts about Operation Sindoor, air strikes, and the surgical strike, and targeted constitutional institutions, the people would start accusing him of being a “traitor”.

Four-term BJP MP from Bangalore Central P. C. Mohan, through a post on X, added: “Electoral rolls are prepared as per the RP Act, 1950, and the Rules, 1960. Draft rolls (SSR 2024) were shared with Congress in Nov 2024. Not a single appeal was filed after the final publication. Now, after losing Bangalore Central, they cry vote theft at a press conference.”