New Delhi: The Congress party has strongly criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following the formal declaration of Nitin Nabin as its new national president. The opposition party has accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process by announcing the president before any actual election took place.

Pawan Khera, the chairperson of the Congress's media and publicity department, addressed the issue at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. Khera questioned the legitimacy of the BJP's internal election, stating, "You announce the president first and then say there will be an election, and then there is no election". He further questioned the need to even call it an election. Another Congress leader, MP Manickam Tagore, echoed these sentiments, asserting that key decisions within the BJP are made by Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Tagore highlighted the contrast with the Congress party, which held elections for the party president's post with multiple candidates.

The Congress also took a dig at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, suggesting he was unhappy because he had no opportunity to "manipulate" the process. Khera sarcastically remarked that Kumar might want to resign in protest, implying he had no real influence over the outcome.

Nitin Nabin, 45, was formally declared the BJP's national president, succeeding J.P. Nadda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Nabin as his "boss in party matters," which further fueled the opposition's criticism. The Congress responded to this by questioning whether the BJP was "playing Bigg Boss," alluding to the reality show's format where decisions are often perceived as arbitrary.

Adding to the criticism, the Congress has also accused the BJP government in Rajasthan of attempting to fraudulently delete names of opposition supporters from electoral rolls under the pretext of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra alleged that nearly 45 lakh voters have been categorized as ASD (Absent, Shifted, Deceased) and demanded a forensic investigation into the forms being used to remove voters. Dotasra claimed that the deletion process accelerated after visits from BJP leaders and accused BJP booth-level agents of submitting a disproportionate number of deletion requests compared to their Congress counterparts. He went so far as to call the process "Congress Voter Removal" and accused the BJP of "murdering democracy" and carrying out "vote theft".

Furthermore, the Congress party has criticized the BJP for demanding "kaagaz dikhao" (show your papers) from a top Hindu seer, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati. This criticism stems from a notice issued to the Swami seeking an explanation for his use of the title Shankaracharya. The Congress has characterized this as arrogant and reminiscent of the BJP's past demands for documentation from Muslims.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has also weighed in, with MP Manoj Jha stating that the BJP's presidential election result was "pre-decided". While acknowledging it as the BJP's internal matter, Jha suggested that there was no genuine electoral process involved.