Opinion | Congress' Incessant EVM Bashing Is An Attack On Constitution Too

Congress's supreme leader Rahul Gandhi has developed the habit of waving a red-jacketed, pocket-sized copy of the Constitution at various forums. During his speeches, he often poses his own questions and offers answers related to what is written-or not written-in it.

"Save the Constitution" has recently become a slogan for the Congress, its allies, and selected activist groups. They argue that the Constitution is under threat because they allege the Modi government, the BJP, and the RSS are making relentless assaults on it, as well as on constitutional and statutory institutions.

The question is: Does Congress practice what it is trying so hard to preach? Even without delving into the recorded or anecdotal facts from Congress's rule, the answer can be found in the events of Wednesday. Hours after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the reintroduction of ballot papers in place of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)-accompanied by a strong remark, "What happens is, if you win the elections, EVMs are not tampered with; when you lose elections, EVMs are tampered"-Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge practically refused to accept the verdict delivered by the Apex Court.

The irony could not be greater. The Congress president was addressing a Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan event organized by the party to commemorate the Constitution Day. However, he was completely dismissive of what the Constitution says about the constitutional position of the Supreme Court and its functions. He also rejected the Supreme Court's statement about the robustness of EVMs and the tendency of certain political parties and activist groups to blame the machines when they lose, yet remain silent about their effectiveness when they win.

People can draw their own conclusions about whether rejecting the Supreme Court's verdict, and ignoring the constitutional separation of powers as outlined for institutions, is a legitimate way to protect the Constitution.

Kharge's anger stems from Congress and its allies suffering a crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, where they could only a handful of seats and a fraction of votes polled. Neither Congress nor any of its allies are in a position to claim the post of Leader of Opposition. Last month, the Congress was similarly rejected by voters in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. In Jharkhand, the party retained its seat count, thanks to the heavy lifting being done by its ally and Hemant Soren's JMM.

Kharge claimed, "All the votes cast by SCs, STs, OBCs, poor, and people from smaller communities are going in vain." According to him, the villain is the EVM, not the loss of faith in Congress leadership. He went on, "Let those machines be kept at Modi's (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) residence, or at Shah's (Home Minister Amit Shah) residence, or in some godown. There are many godowns in Ahmedabad; let those machines be kept there... We only want paper ballots. Then you will know what your situation is." It's worth noting, however, that the same EVMs had delivered good results for the Congress in the Wayanad parliamentary and Karnataka assembly by-elections.

It is also worth noting that while top Congress leaders claim to be the saviours of the Constitution, the party, in the face of an adverse election result, officially refused to accept the popular verdict in Haryana. This may be the first time a mainstream political party-especially one that ruled the country and most of its states for nearly 60 years-has refused to accept the results of a democratic electoral process. The Congress claimed that EVMs were tampered with to harm the party and benefit the BJP.

It should be remembered that the Madras High Court had previously ruled out any question of EVM tampering. It stated: "There is also no question of introducing any virus or bugs, as EVMs cannot be compared to personal computers. The programming in computers, as suggested, has no bearing on the EVMs. A computer's limitations, connections through the Internet, and its very design may allow the alteration of a program, but the EVMs are independent units, and the program in EVMs is a completely different system."

The Congress has conveniently forgotten that it was Rajiv Gandhi, as the then-Prime Minister, who introduced the idea of EVMs in the Indian electoral system. He amended the law by bringing in legislation in December 1988, inserting a new section (61A) in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which empowered the Election Commission to use voting machines. This provision came into force in March 1989. After a series of defeats, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the party now seeks to undo the reformist move made by his father.

(The author is Consulting Editor, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author