BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi tore into Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, calling him a "big-time loser" after the Congress was shut out of all four Karnataka Legislative Council seats. The party’s total wipeout in the October 23 elections, which used paper ballots, handed the ruling party a potent weapon against the opposition's recurring attacks on Electronic Voting Machines. Trivedi addressed a press conference to deliver the blow, arguing that the result exposed the futility of Gandhi's political strategy.
"Whether it’s paper ballot or EVM machines, they will lose," Trivedi said. He urged Gandhi to abandon what he called habits of carelessness and drop the vote-theft narrative. "You have to work hard to win people’s trust. Merely going for foreign tours won’t work," Trivedi added, pointing to the party's perceived disconnect from ground realities.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari amplified the attack on social media, framing the result as a referendum against Gandhi's "anarchic politics." Bhandari highlighted that Congress won zero seats across 28 MLC elections held on ballot paper, suggesting the electorate rejects the party's methods regardless of the voting technology. He claimed the Congress's public relations campaign failed to resonate beyond its own ecosystem.
The Congress, however, rejected the BJP's framing. Party leader Priyank Kharge argued that the SIR process is designed to favor the ruling party, citing patterns in West Bengal, Bihar, and Karnataka. Kharge maintained that the defeat reflects systemic bias rather than a lack of popular support. The next round of political skirmishes is expected as the BJP continues to use these results to counter EVM allegations in upcoming state elections.