NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s claim that anti-incumbency has “disappeared” for the BJP because of its alleged collusion with the Election Commission drew a sharp response from the ruling party. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi cited the Congress’s electoral record in states including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha to hit back at leader of opposition in Lok Sabha.Rahul Gandhi, speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday amid the ongoing row over the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, questioned how anti-incumbency could seemingly affect successive governments but not the BJP.Responding to Rahul’s remarks, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned his understanding of Indian electoral history and argued that the stronger long-term anti-incumbency trend was against the Congress.“From a political point of view, his wisdom is zero, his knowledge is zero,” Trivedi said, launching a personal attack on Rahul.Trivedi then pointed to states where the Congress has not returned to power for decades.“Yes, anti-incumbency is indeed very strong and consistent against Congress,” he said.On Tamil Nadu, Trivedi said the Congress had not returned to power since 1967, arguing that the BJP was not even a significant political force in the state at the time. In West Bengal, he said, the Congress had not returned to government since 1977.The Election Commission’s statistical reports list assembly elections across the states and provide the historical electoral data on which such comparisons can be made.The BJP spokesperson also cited Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, saying there had been no Congress government in Bihar after 1990, no Congress government in Uttar Pradesh after 1989 and no Congress government in Odisha since 1999.“Ever since transparent elections have taken place, CCTV cameras have come in, and independent media has arrived, they’ve started finding it difficult to come to power,” Trivedi said.
What Rahul Gandhi said
Earlier in the day, Rahul held a press conference in which he cited former PM Indira Gandhi as an example, saying she was at the height of her popularity after the 1971 Bangladesh war but faced “massive anti-incumbency” within a year or two.“The same thing happens to leader after leader, to Congress leaders and to regional parties. But, for some reason, it does not happen to PM Modi, Amit Shah and the BJP,” Rahul Gandhi said.He also pointed to electoral changes in Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, arguing that these states had historically seen voters shift between parties.“Haryana swings from one party to another for 50 years, but suddenly anti-incumbency disappears. Maharashtra swings; suddenly that disappears. Uttar Pradesh swings, from the Samajwadi Party to the Bahujan Samaj Party, that also disappears,” he said.
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Rahul said the question had been a “fundamental” one for the Congress until the party arrived at what he described as the answer: “vote chori”.His remarks came as he stepped up his attack on the Election Commission over the SIR exercise. He accused chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of undermining the electoral process, demanded his resignation and alleged that the destruction of votes would ultimately undermine the Constitution and institutions.“From vote chori comes kanoon chori, and from that comes sanstha chori,” he said.
