5 things Opposition has done to prepare people for their loss
These elections have not only been crucial but have been equally strange. In desperation to save political ground against the BJP has been pushing the opposition camp into uncomfortable twists and turns. From arch rivals BSP and SP forging an alliance of convenience to Raj Thackeray emerging as the new ‘liberal’ hero, people have seen it all in this election. Currently, what the voters are witnessing are a myriad of unusual actions and requests by the opposition parties, which can only be seen as stemming from an effort to save their faces after the inevitable defeat.
The saga of saving face began when the opposition parties started attacking the EVMs. It has been a continuous practice of the Congress to allege malfunctioning of the EVMs. Whenever the party lost the elections, they alleged that the EVMs were tampered with, leading to unfavourable results. An instance of this is, during the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh state elections, where Congress gained a majority, they were extremely happy with the functioning of the EVMs. Whereas, in Telangana, where the Congress performed badly, the party submitted a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, Rajat Kumar, requesting counting of VVPAT papers.
VVPAT is another big worry for the opposition. The opposition parties had asked for a verification of the 50% of the VVPAT slips which has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. In the previous phases conducted, opposition has blamed that the votes of the EVM are going directly adding to BJP’s tally. Strangely enough, the Congress Party has alleged that there was a glitch in the technology used by EVMs, the same ones which have now existed for more than a decade. With the request for rechecking of VVPAT, the opposition is directly questioning the credibility of the Election Commission and transparency of the election process.
Not quite satisfied with attacking the election commission over the EVMs, the opposition has directly accused the EC of being partial, favoring BJP. The EC has been very pro-active this election season, with meticulously planning out the phases and security to ensure free and fair elections. The Congress led opposition has been filing complaints against PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, without any prima facie case and allege bias when the EC gives them clean chits. Rahul Gandhi stated, “When it comes to issues of the BJP, the EC is absolutely on the straight line, when it comes to the opposition’s issues, it is completely biased.”
However, the EC have been ensuring that the model code of conduct has been abided with, irrespective of the party, an example of this being how the EC had suspended both BSP leader Mayawati and BJP leader Yogi Aditiyanath from campaigning for a few days. While BJP did not cry foul play, the opposition has been whining about “unfair” behavior towards them.
Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of these elections has been the sheer attitude of the opposition parties. All of them, though not in official alliances have one common agenda- to reduce the vote share of BJP. Congress at the apex of the opposition parties has declared themselves to be the party which is solely focused on cutting votes of the party. Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have stated that their choice of candidates hasn’t been based upon their ability to reap electoral benefits but in fact, have been chosen to cut the votes of BJP. Neither of them seems to be aiming to form the government, all they are focusing on is that BJP shouldn’t be at the center. Interestingly, this provides the opposition parties, contesting separately, an excuse in the event of defeat. A sort of plausible deniability that they were not even fighting the BJP directly, they were just there to help the other guy by eroding BJP’s votes.
Yesterday, the country witnessed another strange request by the opposition parties. Around 21 opposition parties are set to meet the honorable President, after the election is over, in a bid to make an appeal to not call the single largest party to form the government in case of a split verdict, sources said. The opposition parties plan to give a signed letter to the President, claiming support for an alternative way of forming the government. Quite an unusual request in a democracy; seems like the opposition parties are already preparing for a defeat and are attempting to get power even in that defeat.
Over and above all these tactics and actions by the opposition, the underlying façade behind their campaign has been “wanting to maintain a moral high ground” and not “indulge in hateful agenda”. Congress members often claim that they do not want to resort to bitter tactics and Rahul Gandhi’s own personal favourite, claiming he has “love for Modi even though the PM is angry and trapped”. Lately, with PM Modi calling Rajiv Gandhi “bhrashtachari number 1” has been met with such moral policing by the opposition, the same ones who were quiet all throughout the Congress’ “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan. Moreover, the party has focused its entire campaign on criticising the current government on any and every issue, rather than talking about the development plan for the party. PM Modi has been hurled countless abuses at since his tenure and yet Congress claims to be “holier than thou”.
This has been nothing but an attempt of the party to build a façade of how they will not resort to the cheap immoral campaigning tactics, even if it means losing the elections. This narrative would have been fine but sadly, Congress does not practice what it preaches. These actions and statement simply convey Congress’ desire to prepare the public and themselves for the eventuality of them losing. The grand old party believes that if they can justify their loss due to external factors and agencies, it will soften the blow for them and also maintain the “sanctity and reputation” of the party, essential for making a comeback in 2024.