Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the Bengal and Assam elections. "Selective outrage is not an argument," Pradhan posted on X. Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had alleged that Assam and West Bengal are clear cases of polls being "stolen" by the BJP with the support of the Election Commission (EC).
"Instead of undertaking introspection after repeated electoral setbacks, Congress has increasingly resorted to questioning the electoral process itself whenever outcomes are unfavourable. When your party wins in Keralam, the same Election Commission becomes “credible” and “independent”. When results go elsewhere, it becomes “compromised” and “stolen”. This convenience-driven approach exposes a clear inconsistency in Congress’s interpretation of democracy," Pradhan said.
"One wonders if @INCIndia believes democracy has a ‘valid only when we win’ setting," he added.
"The Election Commission of India remains a constitutional authority that has conducted elections across states and decades, with outcomes favouring different parties at different points in time-BJP, Congress, and regional parties alike. Institutional integrity cannot be switched on and off depending on who wins. From West Bengal to Assam and beyond, selectively framing electoral outcomes through suspicion rather than acceptance reduces complex voter choices into political accusations. When results are fragmented or unexpected, it reflects voter choice, not “stolen elections”," he said.
"Mandates are decided by voters, not manufactured through post-result narratives. A mandate is a mandate, whether it suits political convenience or not. Democracies run on acceptance of verdicts and accountability to the people, not on attempts to delegitimise outcomes when they do not align with expectations. Such repeated attempts to discredit verdicts do not strengthen democracy. They end up weakening Congress’s own credibility, as voters increasingly see this as a refusal to accept defeat rather than engage with it. At this point, perhaps the only thing consistently ‘rigged’ is Congress’s relationship with electoral reality," he added.
Earlier on Monday, Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said, "Assam and Bengal are clear cases of the election being stolen by the BJP with the support of the EC. We agree with Mamata ji. More than 100 seats were stolen in Bengal. We have seen this playbook before: Madhya Pradesh. Haryana. Maharashtra. Lok Sabha 2024 etc. Chunav chori, sanstha chori -- ab aur chara hi kya hai! (Election theft, institutional theft -- what is the option now)."
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Apoorva Shukla is a journalist at Times Now, where she thrives on dissecting political developments both at home and abroad. A graduate of Delhi Univ...View More
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