Congress Faces Backlash from J&K Allies Over EVM Claims; BJP Takes Advantage

New Delhi, Dec 15 (NationPress) The Congress party seems to be becoming more isolated within the INDIA bloc due to its obstinacy and perceived ‘big brother’ attitude towards the Centre. Initially, the party struggled to obtain support from its allies on issues raised in Parliament, and now its allegations of ‘biased and fixed’ Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been rejected by its own partner – National Conference (NC).

Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah advised the historic party to cease its complaints regarding the EVMs while simultaneously continuing to participate in elections.

“The same EVMs granted you 99 seats. You celebrated that victory, but then you complain about them when you lose elections. You can’t selectively blame the EVMs,” he remarked.

Omar’s dismissal of Congress' assertions comes amid the party’s demand to revert from EVM voting to paper ballots. The Congress president has already called for a larger movement advocating for a switch from EVMs to ballot papers.

Dismissing the allegations as ‘opportunism’, Omar stated that the party should adopt a consistent stance and if it has issues with the EVMs, it should either boycott or refrain from participating in elections.

“Simply blaming the EVMs for electoral losses is not the appropriate approach,” he stated.

The BJP was quick to respond to Omar’s critique of Congress leadership. BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya expressed on X that Rahul Gandhi increasingly appears to be a loser, with whom no one wants to associate.

“Now, Omar Abdullah has thrown Congress and Rahul Gandhi under the bus regarding the EVM issue… EVMs cannot be good when Congress wins and bad when they lose… Rahul Gandhi is increasingly resembling a loser no one wants to stand with,” he posted on X.

The NC’s distancing from Congress began post the Jammu and Kashmir elections. After winning decisively, Omar expressed the party's dissatisfaction with top Congress leaders for leaving the campaigning efforts solely to NC.

Notably, the widening rift within the INDIA bloc has become evident in recent days. TMC supremo recently supported calls for ‘leadership change’ at the top and did not hesitate to express her willingness to lead the Opposition alliance.

The tensions within the INDIA bloc escalated as it also received backing from other allies like RJD and several others.