Following Congress’s defeat in the Haryana Assembly elections, the party raised allegations of tampering with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh expressed concerns, claiming that the election results did not reflect the ground reality. In response to these allegations, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu criticized the Congress, stating, “Whenever Congress loses, they blame EVMs instead of acknowledging their leadership failures.” He added that the party’s loss was due to internal issues and not any external manipulation.
The Congress party’s allegations of EVM tampering following their defeat in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections are not new. Over the years, the party has raised similar concerns after electoral losses. Jairam Ramesh’s comments, accusing the BJP of manipulating the results, echo Congress’s previous responses after other defeats, including in the 2019 general elections. Then, senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal raised doubts about the reliability of EVMs. Azad had said, “If the BJP wins, then something is definitely wrong with the EVMs.”
In 2017, after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi famously stated, “It’s not a small thing that the machine can be hacked,” referring to EVMs. Similarly, in 2018, after the Gujarat elections, senior leader Arjun Modhwadia raised concerns about EVM discrepancies, alleging irregularities in certain constituencies.
These recurring allegations by Congress often surface during major defeats, leading to criticisms from rival parties like the BJP. Ravneet Singh Bittu’s remarks following the Haryana results add to this dynamic, where he lambasted the Congress leadership, saying, “They don’t know how to accept defeat, and they lack the courage to admit that their loss stems from their leadership, not the machines.” Bittu’s comment underscores a broader criticism that Congress, instead of introspecting about internal weaknesses, often turns to blame external factors like EVMs.
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The Election Commission, however, has repeatedly denied these claims, asserting that EVMs are secure and that allegations are “unfounded.” Despite this, the EVM debate continues to feature in Indian political discourse, especially in contentious election outcomes. In the case of Haryana, BJP’s impressive comeback and Congress’s failure to capitalize on early leads have reignited these discussions.
