Telangana BJP President N. Ramchander Rao questioned the Indian National Congress regarding its stance on the Election Commission’s voter roll verification process. He pointed out that while Congress demanded voter list verification and cleanups in 2018, it now labels the removal and verification of entries as a political attack.
Taking to social media, in a post on X, Rao highlighted what he called “The Great Electoral U-Turn,” pointing out contradictions in the Congress party’s shifting stance on voter verification over the years.
The C in INC stands for CONTRADICTION.
2018: “Verify the rolls. Clean them up.”
2026: “How dare you verify the rolls? mass deletion is a political attack!” pic.twitter.com/S0hhyvbA2o
— N Ramchander Rao (@N_RamchanderRao) September 29, 2026
Sharing an infographic listing voter roll discrepancies across multiple states, Rao criticised the Congress for raising alarms in 2018 about duplicate entries and fake voters, while now protesting against the Election Commission’s cleanup drives as a “political attack”.
“The C in INC stands for CONTRADICTION,” Rao noted, pointing out the stark shift in rhetoric:
2018: “Verify the rolls. Clean them up.”
2026: “How dare you verify the rolls? Mass deletion is a political attack!”
According to the details highlighted in the shared graphic, opposition parties-including Congress-frequently demanded voter list purges in the past:
Telangana: In September 2018, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi flagged around 70 lakh incorrect entries in the state’s draft rolls. Now, the party protests the removal of 73.39 lakh voters during recent verification exercises.
Andhra Pradesh: Congress previously raised concerns over nearly 50 lakh duplicate voters in 2018, but current voter roll scrutinies under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) face criticism.
Rajasthan: The Congress flagged 42 lakh duplicate names in 2018, but later raised objections as 41.85 lakh names were removed in draft revisions.
Keralam: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala identified 4.34 lakh fake voters in April 2021, yet subsequent deletions of 8.57 lakh names sparked pushback.
The infographic also noted similar shifts in other states and courts, including Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) changing position in West Bengal and ongoing Supreme Court reviews regarding voter notice procedures in Delhi.
Rao stated that when errors exist, opposition parties allege that elections are rigged by fake voters, but when the Election Commission cleans up the rolls, they term it a political attack. The BJP leader urged political parties to support the official revision process rather than creating confusion among voters.
Rao also addressed a press conference at the BJP state headquarters on Tuesday and accused the Congress of spreading misinformation about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and creating unnecessary doubts about the Election Commission.
Rao said opposition leaders were falsely projecting differences among the Election Commissioners. Referring to a recent office note by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, he said it clarified that there were no differences among them.
Rao also hit out at the Congress over its criticism of EVMs, alleging that the party raises questions over the electoral process when it loses elections but accepts the same system when it wins.
“Does this mean EVMs are good when they win and bad when they lose?” Rao asked, recalling the Congress-led criticism of EVMs in the past.
