© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
After Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah’s dismissal of objections raised by Congress leaders against EVMs, fellow INDIA bloc member Trinamool Congress (TMC) said Monday that there was nothing substantial in the allegations of EVM manipulation.
TMC MP and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee told reporters that his “personal opinion was that those raising questions on EVMs should show a demo of its discrepancies to the Election Commission (EC)”. “They should show any video to the EC. The EC even called everyone. I have been conducting elections on the ground for a long time. If someone works well during EVM randomisation and the booth workers check EVMs during mock polls or review form 17C, which is used to check ballot units or control units, during counting of votes, I don’t think there is anything substantial in these allegations (of EVM manipulation),” Banerjee said at the Parliament complex Monday.
Banerjee’s statement follows one by Omar that the Congress cannot celebrate its wins in elections held using EVMs and then raise questions on their reliability when it loses. In an interview with PTI, Omar said, “When you get 100-plus MPs using the same EVMs and you celebrate that as a victory, you can’t then a few months later turn around and say… we don’t like EVMs because now the election results aren’t going the way we would like them to.”
With the BJP seizing on the remarks as proof that INDIA bloc allies were not on the same page, Congress MP and whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore claimed Monday the Congress had not made any remarks against EVMs. “It is the Samajwadi Party, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) that have spoken out against EVMs. Please check your facts, CM Omar Abdullah. The Congress CWC resolution clearly addresses the EC only.”
However, the issue of EVMs has figured on the Congress’s agenda. In her opening speech in Parliament during the special debate on the Constitution, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra last week called for a return to elections using ballot papers, adding “then see what happens”.
Separately, the party has submitted several complaints to the EC alleging irregularities during the recent Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections.
Attacking the Congress over the EVM issue, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma said Omar “spoke the truth”. “The Congress’s allies also know that elections through EVMs are fair… Their drama has been exposed,” Sharma told reporters outside Parliament.
The differences over EVMs are just the latest signs of trouble in the INDIA bloc, with Congress allies speaking out against the party since its abysmal performance in the recent Assembly elections. The Congress was accused of not accommodating regional parties, by the TMC, Sena (UBT), SP, CPI, DMK, and Aam Aadmi Party, while calls have been coming in for West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to lead the INDIA bloc.
In his remarks Monday, Abhishek Banerjee reiterated this, saying: “The INDIA alliance will sit and discuss this. She (Mamata) is the senior-most leader. This is her third term as the Chief Minister and she has also been a Union Minister.”
No party should be treated as small, Banerjee said. “The TMC is the only party in the INDIA alliance that has defeated the BJP as well as the Congress. This shows its strength. The TMC reduced BJP MPs in Bengal. We have a good strike rate against them. The TMC is the only party that BJP leaders have joined.”
INDIA bloc allies have also openly questioned the Congress focus on raising the Adani issue, over all others, during the Parliament debate.
