The never-ending post-poll drama of Congress met with sour jalebis of the Election Commission

Many proverbs in both English and Hindi trace their roots to the medieval era, either emerging from literary works of the time or gaining popularity through oral traditions and folklore. 

One such proverb, “Nach Na Jane Angan Tedha” which roughly translates to “One who can’t dance blames the courtyard” originated centuries ago and got popularized through folk culture. 

The proverb holds an almost unbelievable quality. Though it originated long ago, it seems almost as if it was crafted specifically for India’s oldest political party. In just five words, this proverb perfectly encapsulates the functioning of the Indian National Congress.

Indian National Congress has made its mark in blaming everything under the sun for their electoral setbacks except Rahul Gandhi. With no responsibility and accountability from the party’s top leadership, the party keeps on jumping to its same old pattern of blaming everything from Election commission and EVM machines to self crafted conspiracies. 

Well, it seems that the jalebis of Haryana are not leaving Congress anytime soon. This time, it’s the Election Commission of India serving them a packet of sour jalebis and the grand old party has no other option but to gulp them.

After the electoral drubbing in Haryana assembly elections, Congress party resorted to its old post-poll tactics, blame game. It went on to make a total of 26 complaints to the Election Commission of India between October 9 to October 14 alleging irregularities in the Haryana polls. 

The most prominent complaint among these was regarding the battery of EVMs, alleging that the EVMs displayed a 99 percent battery even after the termination of voting. Concerns were also raised by Congress regarding the potential EVM manipulation. 

After these allegations, the Commission had ordered the State Election Officer and the election officers of the concerned district to investigate the entire matter. 

This is not the first time Congress has resorted to such cheap tricks to escape accountability. Over the past several years, the grand old party and its I.N.D.I. Alliance partners have tried tooth and nail to undermine the authority of the polling body. 

Through baseless allegations and questioning the fairness of the elections, the party and its allies have been trying to create a sense of doubt among the minds of the people which will help them to raise a demand to redesign the electoral process according to their preferences that will suit their election journey. 

We all remember that the Congress party and its allies previously controlled the electoral landscape. During the Congress era, the Election Commission of India (ECI) was led by a single Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), who held full authority over electoral processes. 

To maintain power, the grand old party appointed questionable individuals as CECs, including Manohar Singh Gill, who later joined Congress after his retirement. 

He was responsible for introducing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) into the electoral system, which raised allegations from the opposition that this was an attempt to manipulate election outcomes.

But in contemporary times, the structure was reformed to include a team of three members to enhance accountability to electoral management. 

The three-member body now comprises the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, who collectively oversee the conduct of free and fair elections in the country which makes the current system more accountable and trustable. 

Ironically the same congress which did not see any threat to democracy in a single membered body controlling the entire electoral process cries horse watching a three member, more accountable body conducting elections. 

Previously amid the General elections, on 7th of May, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge took to twitter to point his fingers upon the Election Commission of India. 

He wrote a post on X, addressing the leaders of the I.N.D.I. alliance regarding the alleged irregularities in the voting data released by the ECI to which the Election Commission of India gave a detailed 21 page rebuttal to dismiss the allegations.

But it seems the 21 page rebuttal was not enough for the party to resist resorting to its cheap post poll tactics.  Therefore this time, the Election Commision of India has come down heavily on the Indian National Congress. 

The Commission on 29th of October submitted a detailed investigation report of more than 1600 pages crumbling down every baseless allegation made by Congress relating to the irregularities in the Haryana elections it made. 

After a comprehensive re-verification by Returning Officers across all 26 questioned constituencies, the ECI confirmed that the electoral process in Haryana was conducted flawlessly, with Congress candidates and agents present at every stage. 

In a detailed 1,642-page response, the ECI provided evidence that Congress representatives witnessed key steps, such as battery placement and continuous observation until the end of counting.

The ECI also addressed Congress’ claims regarding Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) battery levels, clarifying that battery capacity has no bearing on vote count or machine integrity. Battery status is displayed solely to aid technical teams in ensuring smooth EVM operation.

For transparency, the ECI has published an FAQ on EVM batteries, explaining different battery types, power management, and why some Control Units may display 99% battery after a full polling day.

Reaffirming the robustness of EVMs, the ECI referenced 42 Constitutional Court judgments that have validated the reliability of India’s voting system and warned Congress against making generalized, unsupported allegations against the EVMs.

Calling the allegations made by Congress baseless and devoid of facts. The ECI warned Congress to not make such groundless allegations as these could incite public unrest during critical polling and counting phases. The Commission urged the party to adopt a more evidence-based approach when questioning election integrity.

Will this 1642 page response be enough for the grand old party to refrain from its grand old post poll tactic is a question similar to will rahul gandhi ever undergo coming of age??