00:00So what's the big message in these MLC elections across four major states?
00:05Is the Congress ground game still missing?
00:08Is the BJP facing headwinds in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh?
00:12Are the MLCs a fair barometer of the voter boot, particularly that of the urban middle class?
00:18Those are questions I want to raise.
00:19Dr. Nishant Anand, National Spokesperson Congress, and Tuhin Sinha, BJP's National Spokesperson, on our face-off today.
00:26Dr. Anand, to you first. The Congress, as of now, has drawn a blank across these four states.
00:33Particularly in Karnataka, where you're the ruling party, you've lost a sitting seat in Bengaluru.
00:38Isn't this a cause of worry, when in one of your major states, where you are in power, you lose
00:44all four seats?
00:45Three were held by the BJP, but you've lost a fourth seat as well.
00:50Good evening to you all.
00:52Sir, what was the case in the war?
00:53What happened in Varanasi? What did the BJP lose in Varanasi?
00:56PM Modi has acknowledged that elections conducted by ballot are credible than EVM today on his Twitter.
01:03Second point I want to make is, why did the BJP lose in Varanasi?
01:07If a Lok Sabha election were to be held using ballots, you could end up losing Varanasi entirely.
01:13By acknowledging that ballots are more credible, Prime Minister Modi is effectively admitting that there is an issue with EVMs.
01:20No, no, no, one minute. I am asking you a question, Dr. Anand, on Karnataka, where you've lost all four
01:27seats.
01:27You're telling me about Varanasi, and the fact there is the Samajwadi party has won both the seats.
01:33It's the Samajwadi party that has won the graduates and teachers seats in Varanasi.
01:38I ask you, Karnataka, you tell me about Varanasi. I'll ask the BJP about Varanasi, don't worry.
01:43Karan, sir, Karnataka is the one result that cuts against us, and we are not hiding from it.
01:48Our CM, DK Shiv Kumar, called it a message from voters, and we take that exactly as seriously as he
01:54does.
01:55We accept, we contested in 12 seats, and the CM has already answered.
02:01But for the first time, candidates backed by the ruling party are losing even with the full weight of government
02:06behind them.
02:06That's not noise. That's the government losing it. It's great. One point.
02:14In Varanasi, where Modi has been the member of parliament for 12 years, the BJP lost the legislative council elections.
02:22After a few months, there are UP polls. BJP losing in PMO on constituency.
02:27That to educated voters, teachers and graduate communities in Bihar, they lost their 30-year-old stronghold in the Patna
02:36teacher constituency.
02:37BJP lost in stronghold in Pune. They lost in Patna.
02:41The point is, the mandate is against Modi. We accept the voters' mandate.
02:49Sir, you're saying mandate it again, Modi. I will ask you one more time.
02:54Do you accept that in Karnataka, you are facing now a major challenge?
02:5816 months to go to the polls, you are facing. You've got a new Chief Minister, DK Shiv Kumar.
03:03This was in Bengaluru. He's in charge of Bengaluru.
03:06Do you accept you're facing a major challenge in your southern citadel, yes or no?
03:11Rajeev, sir, we were not able to retain one seat.
03:14We accept the voters' mandate. But the point is, if Narendra Modi is so confident that aliens have no bearing
03:21on election results,
03:23let him prove his confidence in the BJP electoral process through action, not rhetoric.
03:28I want to make one point. Commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections by ballot paper
03:35going forward.
03:36Suspend the SIR and restore 13 crore voters illegally.
03:40Detained from the electoral rolls. Terminate Gyanesh Gaddar.
03:43Repeal the law that gives lifetime immunity to Gyanesh.
03:48Sir, I am talking of the message from the elections. I have heard you now clearly.
03:52Tuhin Sina, you respond. Because the BJP, as we can see there, is celebrating Karnataka where you won four out
03:58of four.
03:59But there are troubling signs. You've lost both seats in Varanasi.
04:03You've lost in Lucknow. You've lost in Agra. You've lost in Pune.
04:06And when I last saw in Nagpur, the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavish's constituency, your candidate is leading now just by
04:141200 votes amidst rumors of dissension.
04:17Now, the fact is, therefore, and you've lost Patna, which you held for 30 years.
04:22So, we can focus on Karnataka, but the BJP also needs a reality check of sorts in these MLC polls.
04:28Do you agree or not?
04:29Well, good evening, Rajdeep. Good evening, everybody.
04:32You know, the overall tally is still overwhelmingly in favor of BJP.
04:36So, 14 out of 21 seats that BJP contested, 0 out of 14 for Congress Party.
04:41Now, when it comes to Varanasi, you know, that particular seat you're mentioning was, in fact, held by the Samajwadi
04:47Party, which Samajwadi Party has managed to retain.
04:50But having said that, you know, I mean, we are an alert party.
04:54Any setback, remotest setback, we respond to it immediately.
04:57We don't, you know, go on a 20-day vacation to an unknown location to de-stress.
05:02We don't, you know, cry foul that, you know, the elections were rigged.
05:06So, this is an alert party by evening, by late evening, I'm sure the, you know, stop-taking would begin
05:11and we would bounce back in the next two months.
05:13No, no, no, but the fact is, you see, you're saying you won 14 out of the 21 seats.
05:17The truth is, you are not, except for that one seat in Bangalore, you've not gained.
05:21You've lost Pune. You've lost Patna. You've lost a seat in Lucknow.
05:26The Samajwadi Party has gone from 3 to 5 and the next major election is Uttar Pradesh.
05:31Now, if you are, while we, the Congress has drawn a blank and the Congress has much to answer for
05:37its failures on its ground game,
05:39the BJP no longer can take the urban voter for granted in Uttar Pradesh, in Bihar, in Maharashtra.
05:47No, no, Rajdeep, if we have lost seats, which we had held previously, and yet the tally is 14 out
05:53of 21,
05:53which obviously means we have gained new seats.
05:55So, how does it, how does it make a difference?
05:58Since every seat is important for us, and the Patna seat you're mentioning was also held for the last four
06:04times.
06:04The defeat is by a very narrow margin.
06:07Please understand that in the last 21 years, starting 2005, we have been in power for nearly 18 out of
06:1321 years.
06:14So, yes, there will be some anti-incumbency factor.
06:16We have been in power in Uttar Pradesh for the last 10 years.
06:19The last time Congress Party was in power in these states was three decades ago.
06:25So, it is for the Congress Party to even think of a comeback.
06:28But, you know, I mean, the fact is they are still obsessed with word-chory allegations.
06:32Now, coming specifically to the demand for ballot paper, you know, in 1987,
06:37they rigged the Jammu and Kashmir election through ballot paper and substantiated by Shashi Tharoor in a 2017 interview.
06:43When they lost 1989 election, it was Rajiv Gandhi who said that enough of ballot papers, we want EVM.
06:49So, what guarantee is there that if Congress continues to lose in this manner,
06:53it will not, you know, want us to go back to EVM, even if we, for a change, go back
06:58to two ballots for one election?
07:00You know, the fact is it's a very small sample when you have graduates and teachers constituency.
07:05But those are the educated people.
07:07So, to both of you, can you get, you see, Prime Minister Modi has got into the ballot paper battle.
07:13Your Congress leaders, Dr. Ananda, are getting into the ballot paper battle.
07:17You can't decide on ballot paper versus EVMs based on MLC.
07:21Exactly. So, the issues are more important.
07:23Yeah, agreed.
07:24So, no, no, one minute, one minute, sir.
07:26One minute, one minute.
07:27I've taken your point to him.
07:29I'm spreading in the country and now being punished by the people.
07:32No, no, I will ask both of you a simple, direct question at the end.
07:35To you, Dr. Anand, is this about ballot paper versus EVM or about the Congress still not having the ground
07:40game?
07:40You all are, you know, you all are go to stage major rallies in Delhi,
07:43but you also need to get your organization on the ground.
07:46You need to get your regional power dynamics right.
07:49Do you concede or not?
07:50Even Jan Suraj has won one seat over the Congress in Bihar.
07:55Rajdeep, lax of people are headed to Delhi on November 1st to ask one question.
07:59Who stole their vote?
08:01That's a referendum.
08:02This government should actually be losing sleepover, not votes by graduate constituency.
08:07We have to make a few points.
08:09CGI removed from selection panel.
08:11We don't have the answer.
08:12ECI get the lifetime immunity.
08:14We do not have the answer.
08:15Anil Basi get caught in Chandigat election.
08:17We do not have the answer.
08:194,000 EVMs are burned.
08:21We don't know how.
08:22EVMs checked in court in Haryana Panchayat election.
08:25The results were overturned.
08:2626 September 2026, claiming SC approved Form 6, changed it by Election Commission.
08:33Later they changed in their affidavit.
08:34The point is, we are okay if they want to do ballot elections for all Lok Sabha and the next
08:39Assembly elections.
08:40We have said it.
08:41We have replied to Pradhan Mantri Modi.
08:43We have also said in the last three years that the elections won by the BJP, including the Varanasi, Aharyana,
08:49Maharashtra, West Bengal, PR, they have been given by Gyanesh Ghatar to Prime Minister Modi.
08:55They have not won by their credibility.
08:57I have heard you, Dr. Anand, I have heard you now.
09:00You know, you are saying that, you know, you can't make the argument of vote chori surely, at least in
09:06these MLC elections.
09:07That's all.
09:08That's about all that I can say at this moment.
09:10But to you, Tuween Sina, you are admitting that the BJP also needs to introspect.
09:15Because you see, your social media cell is making Congress zero, Congress zero.
09:20But BJP is not a hero in this moment.
09:22Congress is zero.
09:23But in this election, you are not the hero anymore.
09:26You are not the hero.
09:27You have also suffered reverses.
09:30You have followed BJP for the last three decades.
09:33We are always in the introspective mood.
09:35When have you seen us, you know, going, you know, celebrating with 99 seats?
09:39When have you seen us, you know, going into a despondent mode?
09:42We are always in that introspective mode.
09:44You know, we are always in that mode where we try to be better compared to the previous performance.
09:49But, you know, since the Congress Party continues to raise the issue of vote chori,
09:53let me tell them that it's only and only the Supreme Court which can decide whether vote chori has happened
09:59and whether who has done it.
10:00The kangaroo court mentality of the Congress Party is what the people of this country are now infuriated at.
10:06And if the Congress does not improve its attitude, this is how they will continue to punish it.
10:11Okay, I'm going to leave it there.
10:12Tuin Sina, Dr. Anand, for joining me on my face-off on the big message of the MLC elections.
10:17Appreciate both of you joining.
