The biggest factor ensuring the demise of the Indian National Congress (INC) is the grand old party’s continual denial of the ground reality and shift the blame on external factors when faced with a resounding defeat. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh sensing an imminent defeat in the all-important Madhya Pradesh by-polls which will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has shifted the blame on Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) as he claimed that the EVMs have ‘a chip can be hacked’ as he all but concedes defeat in the by-polls.
In yet another instance of the INC continuing to stay in denial, former MP CM and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh posed question marks on the credibility of the EVMs. Taking to Twitter, Singh claimed, “In the technological age, developed countries do not trust EVMs, but elections in India and some smaller countries are held by EVMs. Why do developed countries not use EVMs? Because they do not trust EVM. Why? Because the one that has the chip can be hacked.”
This is not the first time has a Congress leader questioned the authenticity of the EVMs in order to mask their own shortcomings and failures.
In what has become a norm in the INC, if the party were supposed to win, all credit must go to the Gandhi family, and if they were to lose, it is all because the EVMs were ‘rigged’.
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan exposed the party’s hypocrisy by reminding the INC that through the same EVMs, the party had secured a majority in the state in 2018 by winning 114 seats.
“Congress is acting as if they have lost the election. Digvijaya is questioning the EVM. This is the same EVM via which Congress had got 114 seats in 2018. The EVM was good back then. Because they know that they are losing, they want to put the blame on EVM and shirk responsibility,” remarked Chouhan.
In the run-up to the by-polls, Samajwadi Party candidate from Gwalior, Roshan Mirza revealed that Digvijaya Singh asked him to withdraw his nomination. A video of the alleged conversation between Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and the SP candidate had also gone viral on social media, exposing the hilarious pre-poll management of the Congress.
“Digvijaya Singh called me & told me to withdraw from upcoming bye-polls. He said I’ll give you Councilor’s ticket. I told him I won’t withdraw & will contest,” said Mirza.
The current Madhya Pradesh assembly is interesting packed after the rebellion of Jyotiraditya Scindia. The BJP is the single largest party with 107 MLAs with Congress trailing second with 87 MLAs in the 230 member house. In the by-polls for 28 Vidhan Sabha seats, the BJP needs to win only 9 seats to ensure the stability of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government whereas the INC needs to virtually win all the 28 seats in order to ensure the return of Kamal Nath.
The writing on the wall for MP Congress had been long visible as the BJP was far better prepared for the by-polls and launched a far more cohesive controversy-free campaign as compared to Congress which saw Kamal Nath being stripped off his status as star campaigner by the Election Commission before being reinstated by the Supreme Court.
Recently, political strategist, Nisheeth Sharan tweeted in what appears to be a leaked letter where Kamal Nath not only accepts defeat in the by-polls but also squarely places the blame on his party colleagues as he disdains that the party has a good chance of winning only a couple of seats, thereby kissing goodbye to the hopes of the return of a Congress government with Kamal Nath at the helm.
As long as the INC continues to exist comfortably in a state of denial, its political footprint will keep on exponentially diminishing and will have to take solace from “moral victories”.
