EVMs or ballot papers, Congress cannot gain people's support in elections: BJP on MLC poll results

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday took on the Congress over its defeat in the legislative council polls in various states including Karnataka, saying this makes it clear that the main opposition party cannot gain people's support in elections, whether conducted using EVMs or ballot papers.

BJP president Nitin Nabin took a jibe at the Congress over its performance, saying the opposition scored a zero in the elections even when it was held on ballot papers.

"The people are repeatedly rejecting Congress' anarchist politics," Nabin said in a post on X.


Read more: PM Modi mocks Congress for failing to win MLC elections across four states using ballot papers

"Be it EVM or ballot, the public's trust and blessings are only with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the BJP chief added.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also targeted Rahul Gandhi over his party's poll performance, saying the Congress leader should realise that public support is earned through hard work, not through "leisure trips".

"Kamchori ki aadat chhodiye. Vote chori ka shabd apke muh se khud chhoot jayega (Give up the habit of shirking work. You will naturally stop using the term 'vote theft')," Trivedi told reporters at the BJP headquarters here.

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The Congress drew a blank in Karnataka while the BJP won five legislative council seats in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party three as results were announced on Wednesday for the biennial elections held in 28 Upper House constituencies across four states.

Trivedi said the poll results have exposed the Congress and Gandhi, who were levelling baseless allegations against the poll process to create controversy and anarchy.

"These elections were conducted using ballot papers, yet the Congress failed to make its presence felt even here. This clearly shows that the Congress is unable to garner public support, regardless of whether elections are held using EVMs or ballot papers," the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said.

"The aspirations for chaos harboured by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, who sought to create a false narrative about India's electoral process, have been left in tatters today with the results of the MLC elections," he added.

Elections to the six teachers' and five graduates' constituencies in UP, four each in Bihar, two each in Karnataka and three graduates' and two teachers' constituencies in Maharashtra were held on October 23.

In Maharashtra, the BJP-led ruling Mahayuti was leading in three seats while the opposition NCP (SP) was ahead in two seats.

The Jan Suraaj Party opened its account in Bihar, where the BJP, JD(U), RJD and an Independent have won one seat each.

The Congress suffered a setback in Karnataka, losing all four seats, with the opposition JD(S) wresting one segment from the ruling party and the BJP, its ally, retaining three.

The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers' Constituency from the Congress. The BJP registered victory in North-East Teachers', South-East Graduates' and West Graduates' constituencies, defeating the Congress candidates.