"Today Rahul Gandhi would have realized democracy is not under attack:" Rajeev Chandrashekhar after Karnataka poll results

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 13 : Following the Congress victory in Karnataka assembly polls, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Saturday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would now have realized that the country's democracy is not under attack.

The Union Minister's remarks came against the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi's statement at Cambridge University that "democracy is under attack."

"We accept this result. We will continue to work for the people of Karnataka as a constructive Opposition...Rahul Gandhi said abroad that there is no democracy in India. Today people should ask him what he thinks about democracy and EVMs," Chandrashekhar said.

Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the magic figure of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly.

According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 122 seats and is leading in 14 more seats.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed the party's victory in Karnataka assembly polls and said that people of the State defeated the politics of hate.

The Congress crossed the halfway mark in the trends and is well set to form the government in the state.

Addressing reporters at the Congress headquarters here in the national capital Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress stood in support of the poor. "The poor defeated crony capitalists in Karnataka. What I really liked about this election is that we did not fight the battle with hatred. We fought the elections with love...," he said.

"I want to thank all the party leaders and workers in Karnataka. Karnataka mein Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai. We fought on the issues of the poor. We did not fight this battle using hatred and wrong words. This will happen in every state," Rahul Gandhi told the mediapersons here.

Rahul Gandhi coined the 'Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai' phrase

"during the Bharat Jodo Yatra which he undertook last year and ended this year in Srinagar.

"Poor people defeated crony capitalists in Karnataka. We didn't fight this battle using hatred..." he said.