Rahul’s protest meet ‘pre-scripted diversion’ to deflect from Cong.’s looming defeat in Bihar: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok, on Thursday (July 31, 2025) termed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s protest meeting against alleged ‘votes theft’ in Bengaluru next week, as a “pre-scripted diversion”, timed to deflect the grand old party’s imminent and looming defeat in upcoming Bihar polls.

Mr. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, who recently claimed that Congress has figured out the modus operandi of the “votes theft” by studying a parliamentary constituency in Karnataka, is scheduled to participate in a protest meeting here on August 5.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the State Congress president said on July 30, that the venue for the protest and nature of the event — whether rally or protest or march — will be decided after a meeting on Thursday, citing “technical issues” and court directives for holding such events in the city.

Mr. Ashok, a former Deputy CM, in a post on ‘X’, said, “What Rahul Gandhi calls a protest is, in reality, a pre-scripted diversion, timed to deflect from Congress’s imminent and looming Bihar defeat. If there was genuine evidence of malpractice in Karnataka, why stay silent for over a year?”.

“After 3 Lok Sabha losses and countless defeats in state polls, this drama won’t revive Congress, or relaunch Rahul Gandhi for the nth time,” the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly said.

Amid the raging row over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Gandhi on July 23 had alleged that elections are being “stolen” in India and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of the “votes theft” by studying a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka.