Thousand Cracks: As I.N.D.I Alliance fails to cobble a huddle, Congress divided on EVM

While several Congress and I.N.D.I Alliance leaders questioned the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) after the drubbing in the Assembly elections to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram had a differing view saying that he has absolute confidence on the efficacy of the EVMs.

Speaking to ANI news agency outside Parliament on Wednesday, Chidambaram said, “…My confidence in the EVM is absolute. I have no doubts about the efficacy of the EVM. I know that there are many party colleagues who might have a differing opinion. But I have been involved in the election since 1996 either as a candidate or as an agent for other candidates. My confidence in the EVM remains unchanged.”

#WATCH | Congress MP Karti Chidambaram says, “…My confidence in the EVM is absolute. I have no doubts about the efficacy of the EVM. I know that there are many party colleagues who might have a differing opinion. But I have been involved in the election since 1996 either as a… pic.twitter.com/eM1ZA3eMtX

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2023

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had questioned the reliability of EVMs claiming that any machine with a chip can be hacked and also said he has opposed voting by EVMs since 2003.

Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav also raised questions on the EVMs and demanded ballot paper election.

“Democracy will be strong only when it operates like it does in America and Japan. There, the counting of votes takes months. If someone casts a vote for a month, counting also takes a month. If America and Japan have a system of ballot paper, then we should adopt it too. And counting should be done taking time, not hastily. After all, what’s the hurry?” he asked.

National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah was also among the Opposition leaders who questioned the EVMs and said that a method has to be devised to correct the machines so that people’s trust remains intact.

“When this machine was introduced during the Congress regime, I was the Chief Minister. At that time, we had asked the Election Commission if there can be any “theft”, they had said that yes it is possible. A method has to be found to correct this machine so that people’s trust in it remains,” said Abdullah.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP bagged 163 of the 230 assembly seats, while the Congress got 66 seats.

The BJP secured an impressive victory in Rajasthan, winning 115 seats. The Congress finished second with 69 seats.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP registered a strong victory dethroning Congress. The saffron party won 54 seats while the grand old party finished second with 35 seats.

After the poll results, the Congress called for the I.N.D.I alliance meeting on 6 December which had to be postponed as several senior leaders including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav conveyed their unavailability.

With the Assembly losses, the Congress is staring at a bigger crisis within its organisation and its I.N.D.I. A bloc allies are not happy either.

Anger is boiling over in the bloc whose activities were stalled by the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly elections. This move arrested the momentum the alliance had managed to gain after its formation in June.

Now there is a view among allies that the Congress stonewalled attempts by regional parties to initiate seat-sharing negotiations as it hoped a good showing in the elections would give it an upper hand in talks.

With inputs from agencies