New Delhi [India], August 11 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP and former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai criticised the Congress party following the resignation of Minister KN Rajanna, alleging that the party does not tolerate truth within its ranks.
He alleged that Congress's motto is to "tell lies, pamper leaders, and fool people," claiming Rajanna was removed for speaking the truth.
Speaking to ANI, Bommai said, "This shows there is no place for truth in Congress. He had told the truth that all these voter lists were prepared during their regime. So he was axed... Truth is a casualty. One should only tell lies, pamper the leaders, and fool the people. This is the motto, principle, and aim of Congress."
Rajanna had stepped down on Monday amid controversy over his remarks on voter list irregularities, which contradicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations against the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Meanwhile, BJP MLC CT Ravi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, accusing it of stifling democracy.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Ravi alleged that there is "no democracy" and that in Congress party "Only dictatorship prevails".
He said, "There is no democracy in Congress. Only dictatorship prevails. If you tell the truth, you will have to resign... The work of making additional deletions in the voter list is not done from the top... If a mistake has been made, it is by the state government officers, not by the Election Commission, the BJP or PM Modi."
Earlier, Congress MLA HD Ranganath called it the "Chief Minister's prerogative" while hinting at underlying discontent within the party.
Speaking to ANI, Ranganath said, "It is the Chief Minister's prerogative. I have no comment on it. But there was a lot of displeasure and other things. We did not expect Rajanna sir to like that."
Karnataka's Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil claimed he was unaware of the reasons behind Rajanna's resignation from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's cabinet.
He said, "I am not aware of it. The Chief Minister may be aware of it, because when someone resigns, it has to be submitted to the Chief Minister."
The reactions come after the Karnataka government on Monday formally notified the removal of KN Rajanna, Minister for Co-operation, from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect.
The notification, signed by Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and forwarded by Special Secretary to the Governor R. Prabushankar on August 11, 2025, was addressed to Chief Secretary Smt. Shalini Rajneesh, IAS.
The letter stated, "I am directed to forward herewith the original notification signed by the Hon'ble Governor for the removal of Sri K.N. Rajanna, Hon'ble Minister for Co-operation, from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect, for further necessary action."
On Saturday, Rajanna, talking to reporters in Tumkur, asked why Congress leaders "turned a blind eye" to irregularities in voter lists and kept silent when they should have raised objections.
He said, "Look, if we just start talking about such things casually, there will be different opinions. When was the voter list prepared? It was prepared when our own government was in power. At that time, was everyone just sitting quietly with eyes closed? These irregularities did take place -- that's the truth. There is nothing false in this."
Admitting that the irregularities happened openly, he said, "These irregularities happened right in front of our eyes -- we should feel ashamed. We didn't take care of it at the time. That's why we must be alert in the future."
"In Mahadevapura, there was indeed fraud. One person was registered in three different places and voted in all three. But when the draft electoral rolls are being prepared, we have to monitor it, right? When the draft electoral rolls are made, we must file objections -- that is our responsibility. At that time, we kept quiet and now we are talking," Rajanna said.