BJP leaders on Saturday slammed Congress leader Bhai Jagtap for allegedly insulting the Election Commission(EC) with derogatory remarks.

Talking to a news agency, its national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala hit out at Congress leader Bhai Jagtap for his alleged ‘kutta’ (‘dog’) remark for the poll panel.He accused the grand old party of insulting the constitutional institution and criticised the party for doubting the poll panel.

“Insulting the constitutional institution has become the identity of Congress. This is not a coincidence, it has become a habit of Congress…now they are doubting the EC, when the election in Jharkhand, J&K, Wayanad, Karnataka and Telangana, the Election Commission is fine…otherwise in Haryana and Maharashtra, become ‘Kutta’ (‘dog’)…they are the one who insults the Constitution.,” he said.

Meanwhile, another BJP leader Kirit Somaiya filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police Commissioner and wrote a letter to the EC over Congress leader Bhai Jagtap’s “kutta” (dog) remark regarding the poll panel.

Talking to the news agency, Somaiya said, “I have written to the Election Commission and also filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police Commissioner. Such a kind of insult, the humiliation of the Election Commission which is a constitutional body can’t be tolerated. Action should be initiated against Bhai Pratap.” Further, the BJP leader said Congress had been targeting the EC because they are scared of the local body Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections due in March 2025.

“In the last two days, Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) everybody has been targeting the EVM and EC because everyone is scared of the local body Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections due in March 2025,” the BJP leader added.

Earlier, Congress leader Bhai Jagtap doubled down on his derogatory remarks against the EC amid the row over the usage of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) and said that the country’s democracy has been “disreputed” because of ECI’s “sycophancy.”

Notably, Jagtap refused to apologise over his objectionable “kutta” remark for the poll panel. “I will not apologise at all, not even a bit…If they are working under pressure from the PM and other ministers then what I have said is right. I will not apologise…The EC exists to further strengthen the democracy of the country, and not to serve someone. I stand by what I said. The EC should work like TN Seshan…Democracy is being disreputed because of the sycophant attitude of EC,” he said.

He further said that Congress brought the EVM technology because it was being used in France, and the US, but after 2009, doubts started arising over its use.

Jagtap further said, “Ours is the biggest democracy in the world. If any such doubt is raised, it should be answered. Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court on this. A decision on the same was pronounced in April 2024. It was said that VVPAT slips should be counted, if you do not want ballot paper. The petition stated that 50 per cent of the VVPATs should counted but the Supreme Court said that it should be 5 per cent but it wasn’t done.”