Losing three successive elections and having to occupy the Opposition benches for so many years in a row has been a rare occasion for the Congress. And with no hope of moving across the aisle electorally, the party now appears to have devised a new scheme to undermine the credibility of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and dispute the genuineness of the election results by alleging that the Commission is compromised.
At the instance of the Opposition parties, the Government of India agreed to debate the electoral reforms in the Parliament. While the treasury benches did not have any problem with the existing system, the Opposition parties wanted “reforms”. But the Opposition failed to provide any clarity as to what it wants to be reformed in the existing electoral system, except maligning the Commission and the election commissioners and even threatening them.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stuck to his stated positions he has been holding for a long time. He claims that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been repeatedly winning because of ‘vote chori’ (vote theft). He came up with this idea only after the third consecutive win of the BJP in 2024 General Elections. Before that he and his party had been blaming the electronic voting machines.
He only repeated and reiterated his earlier allegations that the Election Commission of India is compromised, the voter lists are manipulated and some technical things. There has not been any conclusive evidence against the ECI that it has favoured the ruling party in any way.
The leader of Opposition has problems with the Government of India enacting a special law that provides immunity to the election commissioners for various acts of omission and commission while in office. There is nothing wrong in providing immunity to people holding the highest position. The way Gandhi has been accusing the Commission of wrongdoings without providing any tangible evidence is itself the reason that the election commissioners must enjoy immunity.
Let’s say next time the Congress or Congress-led alliance forms the government at the Centre. Given the hostility the party has been nourishing against the election commissioners, criticising and maligning them by name, leaves hardly any doubt as to how they will be treated by the new regime. In fact, Gandhi even declared that if and when the Congress forms government, it would scrap the immunity law retrospectively. He went on to say that they would come after the commissioners and find them. This is like someone threatening a judge after not getting a favourable verdict.
This is an open threat and intimidation of the constitutional body. Just because you have not been able to win the elections for three consecutive terms does not mean you blame the Election Commission and start threatening and intimidating the election commissioners.
Gandhi also said the Opposition parties have not been allowed any access to the electronic voting machines (EVMs). But who stopped them from getting access when they were in power for 10 years at the Centre between 2004 and 2014? Like, leader of INDIA bloc constituent National Conference and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said quite often that the Congress cannot blame the EVMs for its losses if it accepts the verdict when it wins.
Another perennial grievance that Rahul Gandhi holds against the Election Commission is that it has changed the law and decided to destroy the CCTV recording outside the election booths after 45 days. There obviously should be a limit as to how long the recordings can be preserved. If anyone has any problems about the conduct of the elections, these can be noticed instantly. Forty-five days is a long enough period for any complainant or aggrieved person to seek it and prove his/ her point. If Gandhi has any complaints about Bihar, he still has time to seek the CCTV footage.
Also read: Not many buyers for Rahul’s ‘vote chori’ charges
It is natural that Rahul’s allegations were followed up by his party subordinates like KC Venugopal, the all-powerful general secretary in charge of organisation in the Congress. He went ahead saying that the Election Commission was acting like the BJP “agent”. This is a new low in Parliamentary debate to undermine a constitutional body like the Election Commission of India.
The Congress knows that there is nothing wrong with the electoral process. If there was anything wrong it would have come out with conclusive proof and evidence. It has come out with none. There is always a margin of error in everything and some technical errors in electoral rolls does not mean that the entire electoral system is compromised, as the Congress wants everyone to believe.
The Congress has a design in it. It wants to replicate what the Opposition did to the UPA-II through its “anti-corruption” movement. But the party forgets that there were some cases of gross impropriety and corruption against some ministers. One of the ministers was arrested in its own tenure. A close relative of another minister was arrested by the CBI. Like they say there cannot be smoke without fire, the anti-corruption movement, out of which the Aam Aadmi Party emerged later, had some reasons.
The Congress has not been able to find anything conclusive against the NDA government. It has crafted a new strategy to negate the election process itself by saying and propagating that the NDA and Narendra Modi have won fraudulently. Rahul Gandhi has been regularly and frequently trying to appeal to the Gen Z, after similar protests overthrew governments in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
The intention is obvious—if you cannot win the elections, overthrow the government by other means. Disputing the credibility of elections is the first step. This is sad and unfortunate. The Election Commission of India has an important role in the survival of Indian democracy. Trying to undermine the institution just because you want to question the credibility of the victory of your political opponents is not patriotic, but an antinational act and it is unacceptable.
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