‘Not EVMs but Cong’s mentality is the problem,’ says Dharmendra Pradhan | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday criticised Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent statement advocating for the return to ballot paper-based elections, calling it a reflection of the party’s “desperation” following repeated electoral defeats. Underscoring Rajiv Gandhi’s objections with ballot paper, Pradhan accused Congress of a pattern of deflecting responsibility for its defeats.
Pradhan’s remarks come amid intensifying political debates on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) close on the heels of comprehensive defeat of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of which Congress is a part in Maharashtra polls last week.
In a pointed critique, Pradhan accused Congress of undermining the integrity of the electoral process by questioning the credibility of EVMs. “Congress President @khargeji said that ‘Congress party wants elections to be conducted through ballot papers and not EVMs.’ This in itself is ridiculous and shows the desperation of losing elections badly. Actually the problem is not of EVMs but of Congress’s corrupt mentality,” posted Pradhan on X.

Drawing historical parallels, Pradhan noted that even during elections conducted with ballot papers, objections were raised by Congress leaders, including former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had objections when elections were conducted through ballot papers, and today when Congress is losing elections due to EVMs, his prince (शहज़ादे) has a problem with EVMs,” added Pradhan on X.
Pradhan further accused Congress of a pattern of deflecting responsibility for its defeats. The Congress party’s electoral strategy lacks a plan for winning or losing; instead, they plan to blame EVMs even before the results are out,” he alleged, adding that such narratives were “an insult to the public mandate.”
“The Congress party’s election strategy is not a plan to win or lose, but a plan to blame EVM before the results are announced and these days the Congress royal family (शाही परिवार) has handed over its leadership to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. When Congress loses the election, the Election Commission and EVM are put in the dock, democracy is in danger. For the Congress and its ecosystem, the country’s democracy is decided not by the public’s vote but by the Congress’s win or loss. This is an insult to the mandate. The reality is that the public is repeatedly rejecting the Congress and Rahul Gandhi and the sooner Kharge understands this truth, the better it will be.”