Congress leader Pramod Tiwari has challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conduct all upcoming elections using ballot papers after the PM mocked the party's performance in recent Legislative Council elections held via traditional paper ballots.
Congress Challenges PM Modi on Election Methods
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Wednesday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conduct upcoming elections, including those in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, through ballot papers, after the Prime Minister took a swipe at the Congress over the results of Legislative Council elections held using ballot papers across four states.
In a video message responding to PM Modi's post on X, he said the Prime Minister's remarks reflected his impatience and called on him to announce that the upcoming elections would be conducted through ballot papers. "You are probably the first Prime Minister who is speaking on the limited elections of MLCs. We can understand your problem and impatience. Here, elections were held through ballot papers, right? You say that even if elections were held through ballot papers, Congress could not win... The upcoming elections of Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh should be conducted through ballot papers... Make the announcement today itself that the next elections of Lok Sabha and these states will be held through ballot," Tiwari said.
Leaders Question Credibility of Electronic Voting Machines
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also questioned the Prime Minister's remarks, arguing that his reference to elections conducted through ballot papers had brought the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) into focus. "There are two points. PM Modi has acknowledged that elections conducted via ballot are credible, while there is public scepticism regarding EVMs. As the Prime Minister, it is your responsibility to address and resolve this skepticism and conduct elections using ballots. Second, why did the BJP lose in Varanasi? If a Lok Sabha election were to be held using ballots, you could end up losing Varanasi entirely... By acknowledging that ballots are more credible, Prime Minister Modi is effectively admitting that there is an issue with EVMs... Explain how you lost Varanasi when ballots were used..." Shrinate told ANI.
Samajwadi Party leader Udaiveer Singh also criticised the Prime Minister, saying he should reflect on the electoral outcome in his own Lok Sabha constituency. "PM Modi should reflect on this himself regarding what happened in his own Lok Sabha constituency... They are always busy finding faults in others... The BJP is notorious for such double standards, and their leaders, even the most prominent ones, constantly try to outdo each other in this regard," Singh told ANI.
NDA Sweep Leads to Political Discourse
The reactions came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sarcastic swipe at the Congress following the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) clean sweep in the Karnataka Legislative Council elections, in which the alliance won all four seats. In a post on X, the Prime Minister referred to Legislative Council elections held across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka, where voting took place through ballot papers.
"MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections were held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?" PM Modi wrote. The Prime Minister's post came amid strong performances by the BJP and its allies in the Legislative Council elections, including the NDA's 4-0 sweep in Karnataka, while the Congress suffered setbacks.
Calls for Internal Party Reform
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Praful Patel described the Legislative Council election results as a signal for the Congress and its allies to undertake organisational introspection and rebuild public trust. In a post on X, Patel said, "Today's decision of the Legislative Council is a clear and important signal. To rebuild the trust of the people, to set new priorities for the party and to improve the organisation, there will be an urgent and rigorous introspection," he wrote.
He added, "Today’s Vidhan Parishad election results serve as a definitive wake-up call. The time has come for urgent introspection to rebuild trust, realign our priorities, and fix our organisational structure." (ANI)
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