Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 16: After the ruling BJP, the Congress has come for criticism even from some of the INDIA bloc of the opposition parties for repeatedly raising doubts about the reliability of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Close on the heels of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah trashing the Congress-led charge against Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), another key Opposition party has dismissed the questions surrounding the machines.
Trinamool Congress MP and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has said those who doubt EVMs must demonstrate how they can be hacked. “The people who raise questions on EVM, if they have anything, they should go and show a demo to the Election Commission. If work is done properly at the time of EVM randomisation and people properly work at the booths during mock polls and counting, I don’t think there is any substance in this allegation,” he said.
Abhishek, the MP from West Bengal’s Diamond Harbour, did not specifically name Congress or its leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, in his remarks. He further said simply “making random statements” would not achieve anything. “If still someone feels that EVMs can be hacked, then they should meet the Election Commission and show how EVMs can be hacked… Nothing can be done by just making random statements…,” said Mr Banerjee, the second in command in the TMC after the party chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Union Minister Satish Chandra Dubey said the Trinamool leader has understood the truth, though late. “Two elections happened recently — in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. The party that won in Jammu and Kashmir is part of the INDIA alliance, and no questions were raised regarding EVMs then. In Jharkhand, the INDIA alliance won, and there were no allegations. An alliance cannot sustain itself for long based on a lie. Abhishek Banerjee may have realised this late, but at least he has understood the truth now,” the BJP leader said.
The Congress and several other Opposition parties raised questions about EVMs after the results of the Haryana and Maharashtra polls. The BJP hit back, citing the results of Jharkhand polls and saying that the Opposition raises the EVM issue only when it loses elections.
But some Congress allies have trashed the offensive against EVMs. The leader of the National Conference, of which the Congress is an alliance partner in Jammu and Kashmir, and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said one must be “consistent” in questioning the voting method.
“When you get a hundred plus members of Parliament using the same EVMs, and you celebrate that as sort of a victory for your party, you can’t then a few months later turn around and say… we don’t like these EVMs because now the election results aren’t going the way we would like them to,” Mr Abdullah said. “If you have problems with the EVMs, then you should be consistent in those problems,” he said, adding that parties should not contest polls if they do not trust the voting method.
Citing his example of losing in the Lok Sabha election and scoring a big win in the Assembly polls months later, he said, “One day voters choose you, the next day they don’t. I never blamed the machines.”
Congress MP B Manickam Tagore responded why Mr Abdullah was taking this approach towards Congress’s partners after becoming Chief Minister. “It’s the Samajwadi Party, NCP, and Shiv Sena UBT that have spoken against EVMs. Please check your facts, CM @OmarAbdullah. The Congress CWC resolution clearly addresses the ECI only. Why this approach to our partners after being CM?” he asked in a post on X.
Congress has raised concerns over the reliability of EVMs, especially following its defeat in the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls, and has called for a return to paper ballots.
The Trinamool leader’s remarks also come against the backdrop of the leadership tussle within the INDIA alliance after Mamata Banerjee said she was open to leading the Opposition bloc if given the opportunity. Shortly after her remarks, veteran Opposition leaders Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad Yadav threw their weight behind her.
Meanwhile, the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arriving in parliament on Monday with a handbag displaying a bold “Palestine” tag, drew sharp reactions from the BJP who termed it as “crass communal posturing.”
Priyanka Gandhi, who has been vocal about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, previously described Israel’s military actions as “barbaric and inhuman.” The latest debate over her stance comes a day after she hosted Palestine embassy representative Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer at her residence. The diplomat congratulated her on her Lok Sabha victory from Wayanad and urged India to take a leadership role in facilitating a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
“Was the bag a statement? Why has she kept mum on issues of Bangladeshi Hindus? It is a big question mark,” BJP MP Anurag Thakur said. “It is an Indian Parliament. MPs are elected here from across the country to try and raise the concerns of 140 crore Indians. The opposition did not let the House function for two weeks. First, it was Asaduddin Owaisi who raised a ‘Jai Palestine’ slogan, and now it is Priyanka Gandhi who brought a Palestine bag to Parliament.”
Amit Malviya, the BJP’s IT cell head, accused the Wayanad MP of using “communal virtue signalling” under the guise of a stand against patriarchy. “At the end of this Parliament session, observe a two-minute silence for everyone in the Congress who believed Priyanka Vadra was the solution. Sporting a bag in support of Palestine in Parliament is crass communal posturing,” he said. “Make no mistake, Congress is the New Muslim League.” “People do such things for news. When they have been rejected by the people, they resort to such actions,” said BJP MP Gulam Ali Khatana.
Ms Gandhi shot back at her detractors, stating, “Tell them to do something about the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh, talk to the Bangladesh government, and not say stupid things.” In July, Ms Gandhi had described the Israeli military offensive as “a violation of international law” and urged governments worldwide to pressure Israel to halt its actions.
Even as the BJP leaders criticised Priyanka Gandhi for carrying the bag with Palestine tag, the party government had in unequivocal terms has supported the Palestinian cause. India has long supported a two-state solution, advocating for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reaffirmed this position in Parliament, last week stressing India’s commitment to a “sovereign, independent, and viable Palestinian state.” Responding to allegations of India abstaining from UN resolutions on Gaza, Mr Jaishankar clarified that India had supported 10 of 13 resolutions concerning Palestine at the UN General Assembly since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in October 2023.
India has also provided significant humanitarian aid to Palestine. Since the onset of the conflict, the Centre has delivered approximately 70 metric tonnes of relief materials, including medicines, and contributed $5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees.
India’s ties with Palestine date back nearly five decades. In 1974, India became the first non-Arab nation to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Diplomatic relations deepened in 1996, when India established a representative office in Gaza, later shifted to Ramallah in the West Bank in 2003.
The Centre strongly condemned the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which killed over 1,000 Israelis and led to the kidnapping of many others. It has also called for restraint and the protection of civilian lives in the besieged Palestinian enclave Gaza where the death count has crossed 40,000.
