Congress has been foreseeing a crushing defeat since the past many months, with all of Rahul Gandhi’s campaigning strategies going down the drain and senior Congress leaders leaving the party under his leadership. Now, in the middle of the crucial elections, this particular belief of the grand old party has been further reinforced with the party adopting new tactics to question the transparency of the elections.
After the third phase of the polling ended on Tuesday, twenty-one opposition parties, including Congress on Wednesday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court pleading to direct the Election Commission to cross-check at least 50% votes using Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips (VVPAT).
Supreme Court had ordered earlier this month that VVPAT slips of five electronic voting machines in every constituency be counted instead of just one EVM in the ongoing elections. The court had said this practice will ensure the “greatest degree of accuracy, satisfaction” in the election process.
This was in demand to the opposition parties seeking to verify at least 50% of the votes cast in the Lok Sabha elections using the VVPAT machines. In response to this, the Election Commission had filed an affidavit in the top court citing logistical difficulties in verifying 50% VVPAt slips, which would delay the announcement of results by six days.
Now, the parties have again filed a review petition seeking the same. They have been doubting the credibility of the electronic voting machines a number of times in the since the past five years, which the commission has repeatedly rebuffed. The Election Commission has staunchly denied allegations that the machines can be tampered with.
The opposition is perturbed at the results of the elections and hence is resorting to allegations on EVM. The truth of the matter is that they have given up on the dream of forming a government. Not just Congress, their eco-system in the media have also realized the inevitability of defeat in the coming elections.
One of the journalists sympathetic to the Congress, Shivam Vij, has stated, “I’ve been saying this for months. It’s already too late. Rahul Gandhi thought Rafale will win him this election. Doesn’t understand that the P of Politics stands for Public Opinion.”
https://twitter.com/DilliDurAst/status/1120720302508531712
Another Congress- sympathetic journalist, Nikhil Wagle has also joined the bandwagon of bashing Rahul Gandhi, “Rahul has given up this election. His advisors have worked hard to misguide him.”
Rahul has given up this election. His advisors have worked hard to misguide him. https://t.co/UXhl30tMIn
— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) April 24, 2019
With the elections being perceived at a definite loss, the Congress party and the supports are responding in their own ways. While the supporters have taken an “I told you so” stance, the party is attempting to claim that the EVM machines are being tampered with; so as to soften the blow when the defeat actually comes knocking on their door.
