‘Apologise Or Be Called A Fraud’: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, VD Satheesan Spar Over Rahul Gandhi’s Remarks

Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has hit back at Chief Minister V D Satheesan over his criticism of the BJP leader’s remarks against Rahul Gandhi, saying he would stop referring to the Congress leader as a “fraud” if Gandhi apologised to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission.

Chandrasekhar said he rarely made personal remarks against political opponents but claimed he was compelled to do so in Gandhi’s case because of what he described as repeated attacks on the Prime Minister, the BJP and constitutional institutions.

“I seldom get into personal attacks on political opponents as you know CM @vdsatheesan. But in @RahulGandhi’s case, I am compelled to, as most Indians are. Let me explain why,” Chandrasekhar said in a post on X.

He accused Gandhi of pursuing politics based on “lies, insults and divisiveness” and alleged that the Congress leader had spread misinformation about the BJP and its governments.

Chandrasekhar also said he had “absolutely no reservation or hesitation” in describing Gandhi and his politics as “politics built on fraud and corruption” and calling him a “fraud”.

I seldom get into personal attacks on political opponents as you know CM @vdsatheesan .

But in @RahulGandhi ‘s case , I am compelled to, as most Indians are.

Let me explain why.

Rahuls politics since being thrown out by tired, angry voters in 2014, consists solely of and is… https://t.co/yexDm2XetG

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) September 27, 2026

ALSO READ: Ties With India ‘Organic’, Must Continue Despite Differences: Bangladesh Envoy Riaz Hamidullah

Chandrasekhar’s ‘Apology’ Challenge To Satheesan

Chandrasekhar directly responded to Satheesan’s condemnation of his remarks and set out what he described as a condition for ending his use of the “fraud” label.

“If you get Rahul to apologize for calling our PM @narendramodi a ‘deshdrohi’ and have him apologize to Election Commission for lying, then I promise to stop referring to Rahul Gandhi as a fraud,” he said.

“If you dont take up my above offer but persist on using lies, unkept promises, corruption and appeasement as your political strategy, be prepared to be called out as frauds. Everytime,” he added.

I strongly condemn the irresponsible and malicious statements made by BJP Keralam State President Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Making personal and abusive remarks against Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji, India’s Leader of the Opposition, does not constitute political criticism. It is the…

— V D Satheesan (@vdsatheesan) September 26, 2026

Chandrasekhar was responding to Satheesan’s earlier post in which the Kerala chief minister condemned the BJP leader’s comments against Gandhi as “irresponsible and malicious statements”.

“Making personal and abusive remarks against Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji, India’s Leader of the Opposition, does not constitute political criticism,” Satheesan said.

He also accused the BJP of applying “double standards” over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

SIR Row Adds To BJP-Congress Exchange

The exchange comes amid a wider political dispute over the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.

Satheesan criticised the BJP for rejecting scrutiny of the SIR process while portraying reported differences within the Election Commission as routine. Chandrasekhar, meanwhile, defended the revision exercise and said “fake, dummy and illegal voters must and will be removed from Electoral rolls”.

The Election Commission has said decisions related to the nationwide SIR were taken with the unanimous approval of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The poll panel reiterated this position in a statement issued on Saturday amid reports of differences within the Commission.

The row followed a report by The Indian Express that Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on multiple occasions over SIR-related decisions and procedures. The Election Commission has maintained that such issues did not alter the final decisions of the Commission, which it said were unanimous.

ALSO READ: FSSAI Proposes Nationwide Ban On Analog Cheese: What Makes It Different From Real Cheese?

Rahul Gandhi’s Attack On CEC

Chandrasekhar’s remarks also followed Gandhi’s latest criticism of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Gandhi had accused Kumar of “match-fixing elections”, citing a Malayalam news channel report alleging that the CEC had approached former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson to contest an election on a BJP ticket.

The Election Commission has rejected allegations concerning the SIR process and maintained that its decisions on the exercise had unanimous approval.

Chandrasekhar said the EC’s clarification vindicated his criticism of Gandhi and claimed that the Congress leader’s remarks against the Prime Minister and the poll body should be condemned.

The political exchange between Chandrasekhar and Satheesan has thus added another layer to the ongoing BJP-Congress confrontation over Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against the Election Commission and the SIR exercise.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com