Former Congress War Room Vice Chairperson Varun Santhosh (left) and party spokesperson Mohan Kumaramanglam
Credit: X/Official handles
New Delhi: Voices are rising against Congress leadership's insistence on blaming the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for its electoral rout in Maharashtra with young functionaries asking for fixing accountability instead with some honest introspection on what went wrong.
Party spokesperson Mohan Kumaramanglam and former Congress War Room Vice Chairperson Varun Santhosh on Sunday publicly questioned the party's stand while Tamil Nadu MP Karti Chidambaram re-posted a past tweet in which he insisted that it is time to “stop blaming the EVM”.
A senior MP went to the extent of saying that “senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh will rake up EVMs” while taking the focus away from what changes Congress needs to make in its electoral strategy when 'Direct Benefit Transfers' (DBTs) have started influencing poll outcomes.
The comments came as Congress on Saturday insisted that there was no level-playing field in Maharashtra and by allowing I.N.D.I.A bloc's victory in Jharkhand, there was a ploy to hold back Congress from raising issues about the integrity of the election process due to EVM malfunctions. In Haryana too, Congress had refused to accept the verdict while alleging the mass scale manipulation of EVMs.
“This wasn't a rigged election. The words EVM should not be uttered when losing just as they are forgotten when we are winning. We didn't just lose, we got obliterated in a state where we were once No 1. If there is no accountability, there will be no change. I am hoping against hope that this isn't the case,” Kumaramangalam posted on 'X'.
Santhosh, who was part of the leadership team of Lok Sabha election War Room, said despite not having a level-playing field, the Maha Vikas Aghadi could have won if it ran a “coherent, aggressive campaign” but “instead, MVA took voters for granted, blindly expecting a repeat of their 2024 Lok Sabha success.”
“If you still want to blame EVMs and dodge accountability, explain this: Congress retained Nanded in the Lok Sabha by-poll while losing all six Assembly segments,” he added.
Instead of blaming the EVMs, a senior Congress leader said, there should be a post-mortem on why there was a delay in announcing ‘guarantees’ and DBTs in Maharashtra. “BJP copied our Karnataka model and found it useful in Madhya Pradesh first and then took it to other states. But we abandoned it midway. If a rich party like BJP can do it, why can’t we?” he asked.
Another leader pointed out Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s remarks in Bengaluru in the midst of Maharashtra campaign about the financial feasibility of guarantees. “We got our act on guarantees only in the last 15 days and then came Kharge’s remarks. BJP used it to hilt,” he said.
The leaders said the Congress appeared to expect that people will remain angry at the Maha Yuti combine and vote for Maha Vikas Aghadi instead.
“We did not work properly. One should understand that voters forget and forgive. They expressed their anger once. You cannot expect them to do it again and again,” he said.
“Gruhalakshmi and Ladli Behana have become inevitable for our times. All states and all political parties will have to implement it to win. It's a direct result of a decade of BJP's disastrous economic policies. The political response will be more and more cash transfers. The crucial question is: what are the long-term implications?” Congress leader YB Srivatsa said.
On the Maharashtra fiasco, the leader drew a parallel to Kerala where the Congress-led UDF won 19 out of 20 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha election but miserably failed in Assembly elections two years later. “Overconfidence and taking people for granted led Kerala leaders to ignominy and the same thing happened in Maharashtra now,” he said.
Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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