NEW DELHI: In the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held last week, Congress president Malikarjun Kharge questioned the dependence of the state unit cadre on the national leaders and urged the party to focus on localised concerns and prepare detailed strategies tailored for each state. He also questioned the credibility of the electoral process, criticising the role of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission.
However in the party, according to political observers, the leaders who had actually contested the elections are not saying anything about EVMs being a problem, or that there has been any electoral malpractice. It is only the top leaders who have nothing to defend themselves with, who are making unsubstantiated claims about malpractice. A political analyst said, “When a candidate contests an election, he gets an idea from the booths as to how many people would have voted for him. So on the day of the voting itself they know more or less whether they are going to win or lose. In Maharashtra, after the election results came out, the candidates did not protest against the results, because they knew how the voting had happened.” In fact, party insiders claim that Rahul Gandhi is not taking up the EVM issue assertively because he himself is not convinced with the allegation of rigging. According to party insiders, Rahul Gandhi was given a presentation by his team members a while back, displaying how the machines were fool-proof and could not be rigged. Apparently, that impression has stayed with him and he was not very vociferous about EVMs after the loss in Maharashtra.
According to experts, apart from the schemes launched by Maharashtra’s Mahayuti government for women that worked in favour of them, the BJP’s narrative of Hindu-Muslim worked well. An expert said, “Maharashtra has more than 40% middle class, amounting to 50 million people. Most of the middle class is interested in this narrative, so this factor worked in the saffron camp’s favour.”
“Even if there is a problem with EVMs, how would the Congress leaders explain why they were not functioning during the elections? Why weren’t tickets distributed at the earliest? Why was the party fighting within? The party should correct its own functioning first before starting to blame EVMs,” said an expert.
Interestingly, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution on Friday did not mention EVMs but focused on “electoral malpractices” in general. It stated that “The CWC acknowledges that the party’s performance in Haryana has been contrary to all expectations. Very simply, the INC should have formed the government in the state by a convincing margin but it didn’t. But there have been electoral malpractices that have influenced the result in the state which have been overlooked.
“The CWC also accepts that the party’s performance, as indeed that of its MVA allies, in Maharashtra has been inexplicable and is, in fact, shocking. “The electoral outcome is beyond normal understanding.”
The resolution added, “It appears to be a clear case of targeted manipulation.
“The CWC expresses its hope and confidence that the Congress President will complete the detailed state-wise reviews soon and take the necessary followup action, particularly in relation to organisational matters. These matters need urgent attention both at the AICC level as well in all states.”
Observers say that this is nothing but an attempt by the seniors to save face, by diverting the blame to electoral malpractices, instead of focusing on their own shortcomings.