At the AICC session in Ahmedabad, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP of winning the Maharashtra elections through electoral fraud and called for a nationwide return to ballot paper voting. He also slammed the Modi government for undermining democracy and pushing crony capitalism
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Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Maharashtra Assembly elections through a "fraud" unlike any seen before, and strongly advocated for a return to ballot paper voting. Speaking at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session held on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, Kharge criticised the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and accused the ruling party of eroding democracy through calculated manipulation.
According to PTI, Kharge stated that while the rest of the world is gradually moving back to ballot paper to preserve electoral integrity, India continues to rely on EVMs, which he labelled as instruments of fraud that unfairly benefit the ruling party. He insisted that the youth of the country would eventually demand change and reclaim ballot-based voting systems.
Referring to the Maharashtra elections, Kharge asserted that voter lists were tampered with and outcomes engineered to ensure BJP's sweeping victory. "There has never been a fraud like the one that happened in Maharashtra polls, which was aimed at destroying democracy," Kharge said, as per PTI. He further claimed that similar irregularities were seen in Haryana.
Kharge accused the BJP-led central government of systematically undermining the Constitution and democratic institutions over the past 11 years. He alleged that public sector assets were being sold to crony capitalists and that reservation rights for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes were being diluted through privatisation.
As per PTI reports, he also criticised the functioning of Parliament under the current regime, stating that opposition voices were being muzzled. He cited the refusal to let the Leader of the Opposition speak during the Budget session and referred to debates on sensitive matters like the Waqf (Amendment) Bill being pushed late into the night for communal polarisation.
Kharge called out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly fuelling divisive narratives, accusing the RSS of stoking communal tensions despite public statements to the contrary. He also decried what he described as the BJP's “anti-Dalit mindset”, following an incident in Rajasthan where a temple was "purified" with Ganga water after a Dalit Congress leader visited it.
The Congress president renewed his demand for a nationwide caste census, accusing Modi of using his OBC status for political mileage without enacting meaningful welfare measures for the community.
The AICC session, themed "Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan aur Sangharsh," is being attended by over 1,700 elected and co-opted members. Earlier in the day, the party passed a condolence resolution paying tribute to party leaders who passed away since the 2023 Raipur session, including former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
(With inputs from PTI)
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