A 1975 courtroom verdict that shook Indian democracy is back at the centre of a political argument — and BJP MP Anurag Thakur is using it to turn the tables on Congress. Speaking in Himachal Pradesh, the Hamirpur MP drew a direct line from Indira Gandhi's demand for a 'dedicated judiciary' after her election was struck down, to what he called Congress's pattern of undermining every institution that does not rule in its favour.

The 1975 verdict Congress would rather forget

The backdrop Thakur invokes is unambiguous history. In June 1975, the Allahabad High Court set aside Indira Gandhi's election from Rae Bareli on grounds of corrupt electoral practices — a judgment that directly triggered the declaration of the Emergency. Thakur quotes her response to that ruling: a call for a 'samarpit judiciary' — a 'dedicated judiciary' — widely interpreted at the time as a demand for courts that would align with the ruling dispensation. The Emergency that followed suspended civil liberties, muzzled the press, and imprisoned political opponents for nearly two years.

From 'dedicated judiciary' to EVM scepticism — Thakur's through-line

Thakur's argument is pointed: Congress, he says, has always wanted institutions 'dedicated' to serving the party rather than the Constitution. He frames the party's current questioning of Electronic Voting Machines, the Election Commission of India, and individual Election Commissioners as the same instinct in a new form — challenge the referee when you lose the match. 'Congress always wants everything dedicated to itself, working for it, doing its bidding,' he said, according to the post.

The Election Commission has repeatedly and publicly defended the integrity of EVMs, citing multiple layers of technical audit, mock polls, and Supreme Court scrutiny. EVMs have been deployed across all parliamentary constituencies since the 2004 general elections, and their reliability has been upheld by the apex court on several occasions.

Why this argument lands differently in Himachal Pradesh

The Himachal Pradesh location tag on the post is not incidental. Thakur represents Hamirpur, a constituency he has held across multiple terms, and the state has been a competitive battleground between the BJP and Congress. Invoking the Emergency-era record of the Gandhi family carries particular resonance with an older electorate that lived through 1975–77, while simultaneously framing Congress as institutionally unreliable for a younger voter weighing electoral credibility.

The BJP has consistently deployed this counter-narrative whenever Congress raises EVM concerns — arguing that a party with the Emergency on its record has the weakest standing to lecture on democratic norms. Thakur's post sharpens that argument with a specific quote and a specific verdict, rather than a general accusation.

Whether Congress responds with a rebuttal on contemporary EVM audit mechanisms or pivots to a different front will signal how confident the opposition feels in pressing the institutional-accountability line heading into the next electoral cycle.