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The opposition parties have no problem in accepting the verdict in Tamil Nadu and Keralam. But they have a problem in accepting the popular mandate in Assam and West Bengal. This is because the BJP won the two eastern states, while it does not have stakes in the two southern states.

 

Outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee alleging that the election was “looted” is understandable as she had to provide some excuse for her defeat, both personally and at the party level, but Rahul Gandhi seconding her is the most absurd and atrocious thing to do. This is because, just less than a fortnight ago, Rahul blamed Mamata’s failures for the BJP making inroads in West Bengal and accused the TMC of running a reign of terror in the state.

 

After the killing of a Congress worker in Asansol during the elections, Rahul said, "In West Bengal today, it is not democracy but TMC’s reign of terror that prevails."

 

Earlier, during the campaign he said, "If Mamata ji had run a clean government, and had she not polarised West Bengal, there would have been no way for BJP to make inroads into Bengal.”

 

But, in a complete somersault after the results, he alleged that Assam and Bengal were stolen by the BJP and even criticised his own party leaders for “gloating about TMC’s loss.”

 

“Some in the Congress, and others, are gloating about TMC’s loss. They need to understand this clearly, the theft of the Assam and Bengal mandate is a big step forward by the BJP in its mission to destroy Indian democracy. Put petty politics aside. This is not about one party or another. This is about India,” Rahul tweeted today.

 

Earlier, he “agreed” with Mamata saying that over 100 seats were stolen in Bengal. “Assam and Bengal are clear cases of the election being stolen by the BJP with the support of the EC. We agree with Mamata ji. More than 100 seats were stolen in Bengal. We have seen this playbook before: Madhya Pradesh. Haryana. Maharashtra. Lok Sabha 2024 etc,” he tweeted.

 

Interestingly, Rahul is believed to be out of the country. His complete U-turn on Bengal is surprising. In fact, it has not been taken well even by the opposition.

Priyanka Kakar, chief spokesperson of the AAP, described Rahul as a “sanctimonious hypocrite”. In a tweet, she said, “The LoP’s mandate is fundamentally about holding the ruling government accountable in Parliament, not campaigning against fellow opposition parties. During Delhi and Bengal elections, we saw the LoP campaign against fellow opposition parties even when his own party had 0 stakes. Post elections, the LoP has turned into a sanctimonious hypocrite.”

 

It does sound strange and hypocritical on part of Rahul to change his stand within less than a fortnight, just because the BJP won. He has been consistently maintaining that 2024 General Elections, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and now Assam and Bengal, were stolen by the BJP, but remains conveniently silent about the states like Tamil Nadu, Keralam or Karnataka, two of which the Congress won.

 

His hypocrisy was best called out by his own colleague and ally Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who questioned his stand on EVMs saying, they don’t have any problem when they win and the problem starts only after they lose. But Rahul has now stopped blaming the EVMs and has instead shifted the narrative to “stealing of elections” by other means.

 

Also read: Epic, emphatic, epochal: BJP’s victory in Bengal

 

It is for the entire world to see how the elections were conducted freely and fairly across all states, including West Bengal. The only thing missing in Bengal this time was intimidation, violence, bloodshed and murder. During the elections in 2021, 60 people were killed. There was no loss of life during the elections this time.

 

The opposition had a problem in deployment of massive central security forces, who actually played a non-partisan role. The central security forces did not allow the TMC workers and leaders to exert their local influence with the local police. Otherwise, till now, the TMC cadres would rule the roost during the elections right from casting of votes till conclusion of counting and intimidating their opponents at every stage. That was not allowed this time, hence the breast-beating.

 

Interestingly, everywhere across India in all states, it is always a unanimous demand from all opposition parties, without any exception, that elections should be conducted under the supervision of the central security forces, who do not come under the influence of the local administration. Even though the elections are conducted under the supervision of the Election Commission of India, the local authorities and administration do remain under the influence of the incumbent governments. This was not allowed to happen in Bengal this time.

 

Another excuse put forward by the opposition is the special intensive revision (SIR). Since 92 lakh names were deleted, 63 lakh of these were non-existent, the opposition claims that it contributed to the TMC’s defeat. Interestingly, the TMC won 13 of the 20 seats with highest voter deletions under the SIR.

 

The BJP has been working hard and capitalising on anti-incumbency and the weakness of the opposition. In Bengal, it was anti-incumbency of 15 years against the TMC government. There was an upsurge of resentment against the blatant appeasement, widespread corruption and lawlessness and patronage to the criminals, which had antagonised and alienated people from the TMC and its leader Mamata.

 

Rahul should have asked his own party colleague and predecessor in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, about the state of Bengal under Mamata before rushing to “agree” with her over “100 seats being stolen.”

 

Incidents like rape and murder in RG Kar Medical College further contributed to public anger against Mamata’s government. Ratna Debnath, mother of the rape-murder victim, was elected from Panihati by a margin of over 15,000 votes. Panihati was one of the strongholds of the TMC, which it had continuously won from 2011 to 2021.

 

The opposition, particularly the Congress, is only discrediting itself by trying to question the credibility of the electoral process. In modern times it is quite difficult to hide ground realities from the masses. What the opposition has been claiming and alleging does not find any resonance with the masses. That is why nobody is prepared to believe or agree with the “democracy in danger” narrative.

 

Take another example. Like Mamata lost from Bhabanipur, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also lost from his own assembly segment of Kolathur by a margin of about 9,000 votes. Unlike Mamata, Stalin did not cry “loot”. He gracefully accepted the verdict. This is despite the fact that Stalin was considered a better administrator as compared to Mamata and had drawn huge investments into Tamil Nadu generating lots of jobs.

 

The opposition does not talk about Stalin’s defeat, because it was not the BJP he lost to. The opposition’s problem is with the BJP. It is now an accepted fact that the opposition has not been able to challenge the might of the BJP. There are many reasons for that, including having touched the pulse of the masses. Besides, the BJP and its leaders right from the Prime Minister downwards are always in “campaign mode”. After all, winning elections is the ultimate aim of a political party as only then can it deliver.

 

The opposition should find better alternatives and narratives to challenge the BJP. Undermining the credibility of the Election Commission of India or the Chief Election Commissioner will do no good to anyone, but will weaken the institution. Just a reminder to the Congress which is accusing Gyanesh Kumar of being partisan, two former CECs, Navin Chawla and Manohar Singh Gill were not only known to be close to the Congress, Gill was nominated to Rajya Sabha twice by the party and also served as a minister in the Manmohan Singh government after retirement.

The opposition will do a great service to itself by introspecting and looking within, instead of accusing the BJP of “stealing” the elections, a charge which really does not resonate with the masses.

 

The threat to democracy really does not come from the BJP, but from those who are refusing to accept the democratic and constitutional verdict.