New Delhi: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent demand for a return to ballot paper voting, branding it as “laughable” and a sign of “desperation” following Congress’s continued electoral defeats. Pradhan’s remarks came after Kharge, during a Constitution Day event, expressed concerns about the integrity of EVMs, saying, “We don’t want EVMs; we want ballot papers.”
Pradhan argued that the Congress party blames EVMs whenever it loses elections instead of introspecting on its electoral strategies. He accused the party of undermining public confidence in India’s democratic institutions by alleging foul play without substantial evidence. The minister further pointed out that Congress leaders had raised similar objections during the ballot paper era, indicating a pattern of blaming the electoral process rather than accepting public mandates.
‘Congress leaders raised similar objections during ballot paper era’
In a post on social media platform, X, in Hindi, Pradhan wrote, “Congress President @kharge ji said that “Congress party wants elections to be conducted through ballot papers and not EVMs.” This in itself is ridiculous and shows the desperation of losing elections badly. Actually the problem is not of EVMs but of Congress’s corrupt mentality. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had objections when elections were conducted through ballot papers, and today when Congress is losing elections due to EVMs, his prince has a problem with EVMs.
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“The Congress party’s election strategy is not a plan to win or lose, but a plan to blame EVM before the results are announced and these days the Congress royal family has handed over its leadership to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. When Congress loses the election, the Election Commission and EVM are put in the dock, democracy is in danger. For the Congress and its ecosystem, the country’s democracy is decided not by the public’s vote but by the Congress’s win or loss. This is an insult to the mandate. The reality is that the public is repeatedly rejecting the Congress and Rahul Gandhi and the sooner Kharge understands this truth, the better it will be.”
Kharge cited examples from Western democracies which do not use EVMs
Referring to Congress’s performance in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, Pradhan highlighted that the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory, securing 230 of the 288 seats. In contrast, the Congress could win only 16 seats, marking one of its poorest performances in the state. He asserted that the consistent rejection of Congress by voters is the root cause of its frustrations, not EVMs.
Kharge’s remarks, however, have reignited debates about EVM reliability. The Congress chief cited examples from Western democracies like the US and Germany, which do not use EVMs, and mentioned concerns raised by figures like Elon Musk about electronic systems being potentially vulnerable to tampering. Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, have also questioned the security of EVMs, with Khera stating, “In a country where exam papers are leaked, can we blindly trust machines?”
The Congress party recently submitted complaints to the Election Commission following its loss in Haryana, alleging EVM malfunctions and irregularities in over 20 constituencies.
