BJP defends by branding Rahul Gandhi a liar, sidesteps figures from Election Commission

The ruling BJP on Monday mounted a fresh attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc, responding to allegations of anomalies in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process not by addressing figure-based evidence available on the Election Commission’s website, but by branding Gandhi a liar and questioning the Opposition’s motives.

The party suggested that the Opposition only challenges the credibility of electoral processes when defeated, while remaining silent when victorious, and accused it of shaming the Constitution and the country to mask its own political weaknesses.

Both Houses of Parliament witnessed another day of disruption over the Bihar SIR issue as the BJP’s counter-offensive targeted Gandhi personally, framing him as a politician unwilling to substantiate his claims with affidavits or documentary proof, according to The Indian Express.

Instead of engaging with the numerical discrepancies and procedural concerns cited by the Opposition, the ruling party cast the protests as part of a calculated bid to destabilise the nation. Senior ministers linked the Opposition’s stance to a wider conspiracy, alleging that it sought to weaken democratic institutions and provoke disorder, while presenting the electoral process as robust and constitutionally sound.

The party’s leaders reframed the debate by listing a series of past occasions when the Opposition had raised questions about the integrity of elections and institutions, portraying these episodes as consistent attempts to undermine public confidence. They compared the current SIR protest to earlier disputes over electronic voting machines, Rafale fighter jet deals, and other issues, implying a pattern of unfounded allegations designed to serve political expediency rather than democratic accountability.

By focusing on the character and conduct of Rahul Gandhi and his allies, the BJP avoided confronting the Opposition’s central argument: that data from the Election Commission’s own records point to irregularities in Bihar’s voter rolls. Instead, the party challenged whether similar concerns had been raised in states where the Opposition had won decisively, using these victories as rhetorical evidence that the electoral machinery functions impartially. In doing so, the ruling party positioned the Opposition’s criticisms as situational and self-serving rather than evidence-driven.

The BJP also sought to frame the matter as an ideological contest, claiming that the INDIA bloc’s politics was driven by vote-bank calculations and, in some cases, influenced by anti-national forces. While repeatedly asserting the credibility and impartiality of the Election Commission, ministers argued that opposition parties were exploiting procedural exercises like the SIR to create political unrest.

The government’s narrative avoided technical explanations of the revision process or acknowledgement of the figures presented by the Opposition, relying instead on accusations that the protests were orchestrated to erode public faith in constitutional bodies.

With Gandhi and several Opposition MPs detained during a march to the Election Commission’s headquarters, the confrontation underscored the widening gulf between the government’s insistence on defending institutions through political attack and the Opposition’s call for scrutiny grounded in official data.