Congress leader Kirti Azad admits he benefitted from booth capturing by the party

It seems that the Congress party and its leaders are nowadays religiously following the old wisdom – Honesty is the best policy. Just a few days back the Gujarat Congress official website described the party as the “oldest and largest political party in India who looted India for 70 years.”

For more details: Gujarat Congress’ official website says party ‘looted India for 70 years’

And now what is being considered as an ‘honest confession’, Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad on Tuesday said that Congress workers used to loot polling booths for his father and for him also before the EVMs came into the picture. Kirti Azad joined the party just a few days after deserting the BJP.

Addressing his supporters for the first time at Darbhanga after joining the Congress, Kirti Azad said, “Congress workers used to loot polling booths for Nagendra ji. They did the same for my father and me as well in 1999 as electronic voting machine was not introduced then”.

His father, Bhagwat Jha Azad, was Bihar Chief Minister. Nagendra Jha is the father of Bihar Congress President Madan Jha and used to be education minister when Kirti’s father was the CM of Bihar.

Kirti Azad confirmed to Times of India that he made the aforementioned statement, with ifs and buts. He said, “It was a welcome ceremony and I was asked to share my experience after joining Congress. I own what I said. My only defence is that I said it wrongly and spoke in the heat of the moment. I was only talking about how Congress indulge in election-management and lure voters.”

The NDA attacked Congress over Kirti’s statement. According to Times of India report, the BJP state president Nityanand Rai said, “He never won elections by looting booths with BJP. He was elected for being a BJP candidate. His security money will be forfeited if he contests elections from some other party.” He also added, “Nonetheless, it is in the Congress culture to capture polling booths and managing elections.”

It seems that some parties desperately want the return of capturing polling booths scenarios and that’s why they are outraging so much against the EVMs. When the ballot paper voting system was in practice, almost all the parties indulged in electoral malpractice. The big parties used to be the biggest beneficiaries of such electoral malpractices. In the recent Bengal panchayat elections, there were several media reports of looting ballot boxes, booth capturing, stamping ballot papers inside counting hall, bombing, killing, clash, violence, political murders have surfaced. 

India Today had reported that angry locals are throwing out ballot box in the canal after outrage over alleged rigging.

Last year, on 14th May, ANI reported that ballot boxes were looted at gunpoint by unidentified people at 44, 45 and 45K booths in Murshidabad. 

All this explains, why the opposition parties are shouting to replace EVMs with Ballot paper. And thanks to Kirti Azad for explaining the rich history of the Congress party and the efforts made by them to ‘ensure free and fair conduct of elections’.