Reeling from its defeat in Maharashtra, following closely on the heels of a setback in the Haryana Assembly elections, the Congress on Saturday once again raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process, citing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and alleging “manipulation” and a “conspiracy” behind its loss.
In an unprecedented act following the defeat in Haryana last month, the Congress said it will not accept the outcome, claiming that there was a “conspiracy” planned through “manipulation” of EVMs. The Election Commission strongly disputed this accusation.
Top leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, declared the outcome was “unexpected” and promised to “analyse them in detail” on Saturday, only hours after the MVA’s crushing defeat in Maharashtra. However, the party went far beyond this to accuse “manipulation” during a press conference.
Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh called the decision “inexplicable” and said that the level playing field was “targeted” in an attempt to undermine the INDIA bloc.
The party, however, celebrated the outcome in Jharkhand, claiming that the state’s citizens had firmly rejected the BJP’s “politics of polarisation.”
Ramesh said, “The Maharashtra Assembly election result is apratayashit and inexplicable.” He said that a “targeted conspiracy after the level-playing field was disturbed in the state to defeat the Congress” was responsible for the result.
“Our morale is not down and we will strengthen the organisation and analyse the results,” he added.
Pawan Khera, head of AICC’s media and publicity department, said it was unexpected that the people of Maharashtra, who had beaten the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, had awarded it 132 of 148 seats.
“We are provided a level playing field in Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Assembly by-elections, we were let (to) win there with an expectation that we will keep our mouth shut in Maharashtra. We will not keep quiet. Tactics are used only where the BJP has to take advantage and a level playing field is allowed at other places. We will keep raising questions on the election process whether we win or lose,” he said.
He claimed that when polling is finished, it is now typical to update the vote percentage higher.
“You all have seen videos which surface in social media after every election which shows EVM machines in the vehicle of one BJP leader or other.. yesterday it happened in Nagpur…there are no answers. How can the EC sleep easily at night? Silence is not an answer, so it is our responsibility to raise such questions which trouble the BJP…We will keep on raising these issues because we care about democracy and the future generation of this country,” Khera said.
“Micromanagement is equal to ground-level manipulation and this is exactly what has happened. Each of our leaders has been targeted. It’s a targeted manipulation,” Ramesh remarked in response to assertions that the BJP won Maharashtra due to micromanagement.
Ramesh further mentioned that the prime minister’s preferred corporate group and the BJP had the most investments in Maharashtra.
“A machine that was manipulating on the ground was up against us. We faced a machine that had specifically targeted one seat after another. The BJP’s entire coalition has triumphed. Additionally, key Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) politicians have been singled out,” Ramesh said.
Regarding EVMs, Ramesh stated, “This is not just a machine issue. This is a procedural issue and manipulation is taking place.”
Ramesh Chennithala, the AICC’s Maharashtra head, stated: “How can we believe the Maharashtra assembly election results? There are problems of unemployment, inflation, and corruption. Have all these problems ended with the Majhi Ladki Bahin yojana? In the Lok Sabha polls, the people of Maharashtra had voted for Maha Vikas Aghadi. What has happened since then for such a change in results?”
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