Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 15 : Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao on Sunday condemned Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on democracy and the BJP at the Bharat Summit, demanding an apology from the Congress leader to the nation.
On Gandhi’s "democracy had been destroyed in India in 2014" remark, Rao reminded the opposition party of the Emergency and how it "dismissed several democratically elected governments when it was in power".
“We condemn Rahul Gandhi’s attack on the BJP and Indian democracy at yesterday’s Bharat Summit. We condemn his statement that since 2014, democracy has not existed in India. Before 2014, when Congress was in power, Rahul Gandhi should remember that it was his party which imposed an Emergency in this country… It was his party which dismissed several governments that were democratically elected. Where was democracy then?” he questioned while speaking to ANI. 
Rao also criticised the involvement of a foreign political leader in India’s domestic political matters, referring to the ‘Vote Chor’ remarks.
“In the same tenor, the Italian leader of some political party comes and says Vote Chor, who is a foreigner, to interfere in our sovereign matters? I think nothing is more insulting to the nation, to the people of this country, and to the democracy of this country… Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the entire nation,” he said.
Gandhi has alleged that India's traditional electoral and coalition landscape was upturned in 2014 through massive inflows of money, claiming that democracy was destroyed in India in 2014.
"In 2014, we witnessed a completely new election, something we've never seen before. Millions and millions and millions of dollars were injected into the political system. The electoral system that was used to close fights and form coalitions was suddenly upturned, and I would be lying if I said that the opposition was in shock. There was this crisis in Indian politics for a decade. And then suddenly, we discovered what was happening. We discovered it, and we have proven it without any doubt that democracy was destroyed in India in 2014," he said.
Gandhi was speaking at the concluding day of the two-day Bharat Summit 2026 at the HICC Novotel venue in Hyderabad, alongside Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and delegates from around 70 countries.