The outcome of the recent Assembly elections has triggered speculation in political circles on whether the 2024 Parliamentary elections would be the final opportunity for former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to prove his mettle on the electoral front.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has repeatedly made it clear that his party was not in the race for the Prime Ministership, thus ruling out any possibility of Rahul being projected for the coveted position. However, the media invariably pits him against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thereby making things easier for the BJP, particularly in the seats where the two major parties oppose each other. Rahul too has the tendency of fuelling this perception, thanks to the sycophants within the party, including spokespersons, who go out of the way to highlight his many virtues.
Unfortunately for the Congress, in the last two Lok Sabha elections, where Rahul was virtually the spearhead, the party performed miserably. And if in 2024, the outcome remains as dismal as it has been so far, it is very doubtful that in 2029 Rahul may get another chance, and could be a part of history.
The Assembly election results have been a subject of discussion in Congress circles in particular; there is a general belief, rightly or wrongly, that the “unexpected” outcome was facilitated by tampering of the EVM machines, particularly in Madhya Pradesh. However, since there is no evidence as such to back this claim, it gives an impression to the people that it could be a case of sour grapes and the Congress was just a “bad loser”.
Even in Chhattisgarh, the Congress lost all the closely contested seats where the margins were below 1,000, thus making its leaders ask the question whether it was more than a coincidence that all tight fights went one way in the end. Both Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, who were primary party leaders in Madhya Pradesh, have informed their leadership that this issue should be taken up at the national level and with also other leaders of the I.N.D.I.A group, since it would affect everyone.
The Congress high command is already considering the proposal of reviving the Digvijaya Singh committee with a more broad-based inclusion to go into the question of alleged EVM tampering. The Digvijaya committee was formed some years ago after there were allegations that in MP the results were tampered. However, it became defunct soon afterwards.
Now with the results out, and the Congress in a state of shock, this move is likely to gain momentum. The counter argument is that if at all the EVMs were tampered, why did this not show up in Karnataka earlier, and in Telangana now? Many Congress leaders feel that this was so because the tampering was selective in favour of the BJP, and allowing fair voting to take place in some states was a part of larger strategy to create an impression that there was no wrongdoing involved.
The internal discussion in Congress circles is that the purchase of EVMs was not under the purview of the Election Commission and this was done by the Central government through the established procedures. It is important to point out here that many former Election Commissioners have maintained consistently that EVMs cannot be tampered with and such claims were baseless.
The Congress and many other parties are worried that if at all there is even an iota of truth in these allegations, it was pointless to have elections and the entire exercise was a big joke on the concept of democracy. It is being cited that no western country where democracy thrives has voting or counting through EVMs and everything is done physically through the ballot paper.
In a world where technology is so advanced, and where with a button, the entire lunar expedition operations can be controlled, how difficult would it be to manipulate the EVMs? In support of their demand of going back to the ballot papers, some leaders claim that apart from India, two African nations and three South American countries use the EVM method which leaves a lot to be desired.
However, the Congress has to understand that blaming the EVM machines without solid evidence could be counter-productive. The party needs to strengthen its organizational base and concentrate on upgrading its election contesting skills first. What has happened is that the money and effort that was spent on Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra seems to have gone waste.
The Yatra had certainly for some time transformed the former Congress president’s image but it would have yielded political dividends only if the party’s organisational structure had been strengthened. This had been pointed out even when the Yatra had commenced and the recent results show why the Congress could not reap its benefits in the Assembly polls.
There is also speculation regarding the future of many top leaders, who have had to face the brunt of the recent defeats. The party has no choice but to continue with them since they have the experience and the guile to take on the BJP. There are no successors waiting in the wings and without an organizational structure, no one would be able to perform any miracles.
The Congress and Rahul in particular need to have a close look at some of the upstarts whose commitment to its ideology is in doubt and who influence decision making. To begin with, Kharge should have a senior as his political adviser and stop relying on K.C. Venugopal’s acumen. Between us.