1 hr ago
Kishan Reddy attacks Rahul Gandhi over ‘deshdrohi’ remarks
Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and election official Gyanesh Kumar of being traitors.
He said they had damaged the country’s voting system and asked the election chief to resign.
Kishan Reddy strongly rejected these claims.
Reddy said Gandhi should not use insulting words against leaders elected by millions of people.
He also accused Congress of taking lawmakers from other parties in Telangana.
Reddy called that action a form of stealing voters’ mandates.
He defended the Election Commission and the process of checking voter lists.
He said election results in several states did not show that the process was designed to help the BJP.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy condemned Rahul Gandhi for calling Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “deshdrohis.”
Gandhi accused the leaders of destroying India’s vote and demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Reddy said Gandhi had lost electoral contests and his balance by using such language against elected leaders.
Reddy accused Congress of stealing mandates through defections in Telangana and cited the Supreme Court’s ruling involving BRS MLA Danam Nagender.
Reddy defended the electoral-roll revision process, saying results in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal did not support Gandhi’s allegations of BJP-led vote theft.
- Who
- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy; the remarks also concerned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- What
- Reddy criticized Gandhi’s accusations of “vote chori” and his description of Modi, Shah and Kumar as “deshdrohis,” while Gandhi demanded electoral accountability and Kumar’s resignation.
- Where
- The exchange was reported from Hyderabad and involved electoral issues in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal.
- When
- Gandhi made the remarks on September 24; Reddy responded on Friday, September 25.
- Why
- Gandhi alleged that India’s vote had been destroyed, while Reddy said Gandhi was undermining public trust in democratic institutions and deflected attention from Congress defections in Telangana.
Rahul Gandhi’s allegations
Kishan Reddy’s response
Electoral integrity
Rahul Gandhi’s allegations
Gandhi said Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar had destroyed India’s vote, called them “deshdrohis” and demanded Kumar’s resignation.
Kishan Reddy’s response
Reddy rejected the accusation, defended the Election Commission and said Gandhi was trying to damage public confidence in democratic institutions.
Meaning of vote theft
Rahul Gandhi’s allegations
Gandhi alleged that electoral processes, including voter-list changes, enabled “vote chori” and urged the chief election official to become an approver.
Kishan Reddy’s response
Reddy said results from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal did not support a BJP conspiracy, citing victories by non-BJP parties in areas affected by SIR.
Political defections
Rahul Gandhi’s allegations
Gandhi’s remarks focused on alleged wrongdoing in the electoral system and the need for accountability from election authorities.
Kishan Reddy’s response
Reddy said Congress had itself taken the mandates of voters by bringing 10 MLAs elected on other party tickets into its Telangana government.
Key facts
- Main critic
- G Kishan Reddy, Union Coal Minister
- Main target
- Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
- Gandhi’s allegation
- He called Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Gyanesh Kumar “deshdrohis” and accused them of destroying India’s vote.
- Reddy’s Telangana allegation
- Reddy said 10 MLAs elected on other party tickets joined Congress after it formed the Telangana government.
- Court reference
- Reddy cited the Supreme Court upholding the disqualification of BRS MLA Danam Nagender for defecting to Congress.
- Electoral-roll process
- Reddy referred to the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal.
- Reddy’s institutional position
- He said the Election Commission is an independent constitutional body and that the NDA government has not interfered with it.
Quotes
G Kishan Reddy
Union Coal Minister and BJP leader criticizing Congress defections in Telangana
“SIR cannot be a conspiracy in Bengal and a blessing in Kerala. Will the Congress also call its own governments in Karnataka, Telangana, Himachal and Kerala illegitimate. Or democracy is alive only when the Congress wins”
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“The Congress does not trust the Supreme Court. It does not trust the Election Commission. It does not trust EVMs, and it does not trust our forces. I ask Rahul Gandhi– whom do you trust.”
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