Slap On Congress Face: BJP Slams Rahul Gandhi, Cites Karnataka Survey To 'Fact-Check' 'Vote Chori' Claim

The Karnataka government on Thursday released a survey regarding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which showed that the majority of voters trust electronic voting machines (EVMs) and believe the elections were conducted fairly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his repeated "vote chori" allegations, accusing him of blaming EVMs and the electoral system whenever he faces defeat—claims that, they say, are consistently contradicted by facts.

The comments came after the Karnataka government released a survey on Thursday regarding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which showed that the majority of voters trust electronic voting machines (EVMs) and believe the elections were conducted fairly.

Speaking to ANI, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Rahul Gandhi blames the EVMs and the Election Commission after losing the election. In Karnataka, a survey revealed that people consider EVMs safe and trust them. Each time Rahul Gandhi blames the EVMs or the system, he gets a reality check."

Echoing a similar sentiment, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly and BJP leader R Ashoka said the survey conducted by the Congress-led Karnataka government is a slap on the face of the Congress.

"For years, Rahul Gandhi has travelled the country telling one story: that India’s democracy is ‘in danger,’ that EVMs are ‘untrustworthy,’ and that our institutions cannot be believed. But Karnataka has just told a very different story. A statewide survey covering thousands of voters across more than a hundred constituencies reveals a simple, powerful truth: people trust elections, people trust EVMs, and people trust India’s democratic process. This survey is a slap on the face of Congress," Ashoka said in a post on X.

He also slammed Congress, saying that the party criticizes institutions when it loses and praises them when it wins, calling it convenient, not principled, politics that no narrative can hide.

"Congress questions institutions only when it loses. It celebrates the same system when it wins. This is not principled politics. This is convenient politics. And no amount of manufactured narratives can hide that truth anymore," he added in the post.

What Is The Karnataka Survey?

The Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority (KMEA) carried out a survey called "Lok Sabha Elections 2024 – Evaluation of Endline Survey of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Citizens" to gauge citizens’ views on the electoral process.

The study surveyed 5,100 people across 102 constituencies and found that 91.31 percent of respondents believe elections in India are free, while 83.61% expressed trust in electronic voting machines (EVMs). Out of 4,272 voters, 95.44 percent confirmed that voter lists were accurate. Commissioned by CEO V Anbukumar, the survey also showed that 84.55 percent considered the elections fair, an increase from 77.9 percent  EVM confidence reported in 2023.