Anurag Thakur targets Congress over EVM flip-flop
Synopsis
BJP MP Anurag Thakur calls out Congress's contradictory positions on EVMs — demanding them after BJP's 1989 surge, then demanding ballot papers after BJP's 2014 win — framing it as a pattern of convenient opposition rather than principled concern.
Key Takeaways
BJP MP Anurag Thakur posted a political attack on Congress from Himachal Pradesh on 31 October 2026 .
He claims Congress under Rajiv Gandhi favoured EVMs after BJP jumped from 2 to 86 seats in 1989 — though this specific attribution is historically unverified.
Rahul Gandhi has publicly demanded a return to ballot papers after the BJP's victories in 2014 and beyond, citing EVM hacking risks.
The Election Commission and the Supreme Court have consistently upheld EVMs as tamper-proof, standalone devices.
EVMs were first trialled in India during a 1982 Kerala by-election before phased national rollout.
The post frames Congress's changing stance as politically motivated rather than a principled position on electoral integrity.
A party that once demanded EVMs now wants ballot papers back — and BJP MP Anurag Thakur is making sure voters in Himachal Pradesh hear that contradiction loud and clear. Speaking on 31 October 2026, the former Union Minister turned a pointed piece of electoral history into a broadside against the Congress.
Thakur's argument, delivered in Hindi, runs like this: when the BJP surged from 2 to 86 Lok Sabha seats in the 1989 general election, the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi reportedly pushed for a switch from ballot papers to Electronic Voting Machines. Then, after the BJP's decisive victory in 2014, Rahul Gandhi began demanding a return to ballot papers, citing the risk of EVM hacking. Thakur's closing question — 'Aakhir Congress itni confused kyun hai?' ('Why is Congress so confused?') — frames the contrast as a pattern, not a coincidence.
The 1989 reversal Congress would rather forget
The 1989 Lok Sabha election was a watershed: the BJP's seat count jumped from 2 to 86, signalling the party's emergence as a national force and ending Rajiv Gandhi's majority government. EVMs had already been trialled by the Election Commission of India in a 1982 Kerala by-election, but full-scale adoption was still years away. The claim that Congress leadership of that era favoured EVM adoption is a historical assertion; contemporaneous records would be needed to verify the specific attribution to Rajiv Gandhi, and the research flags this as unverified.
What is well-documented is the broader pattern: Indian political parties have historically calibrated their enthusiasm for EVMs against their electoral fortunes. The Election Commission has consistently maintained that EVMs are standalone, air-gapped devices with no external connectivity — a position the Supreme Court of India upheld through multiple rulings in the 2010s, while also directing the introduction of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines as an additional check.
Rahul Gandhi's EVM campaign since 2014
After the BJP's landslide in 2014 and again after 2019, Rahul Gandhi and several other opposition leaders publicly questioned EVM integrity, calling for a return to paper ballots. The argument — that EVMs can be hacked or manipulated — has been rejected by the Election Commission and the courts, but it has found a persistent audience among Congress supporters and some regional parties nursing electoral losses.
Thakur's post weaponises that sequence: Congress wanted EVMs when ballot papers were losing them seats, and wants ballot papers now that EVMs are. The rhetorical punch lands because the timeline is real, even if the specific 1989 attribution remains contested.
Whether this shapes voter sentiment in Himachal Pradesh — a state where Thakur's political base runs deep — or simply reinforces existing BJP messaging on Congress credibility, the clip adds another data point to a long-running national debate that shows no sign of quieting before the next round of polls.
Point of View
It shifts the debate to Congress's credibility by surfacing the party's own historical positions. The 1989-to-2014 arc is a politically potent frame because it implies opportunism rather than principle. However, the unverified nature of the Rajiv Gandhi attribution is a vulnerability — if pressed, the claim could be challenged. More broadly, the EVM debate remains one of India's most durable opposition grievances, and the BJP's consistent response has been to turn the argument back on its accusers rather than engage fresh audit demands, a posture that satisfies its base but rarely closes the conversation.
NationPress
31 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Anurag Thakur say about Congress and EVMs?
Thakur claimed that Congress under Rajiv Gandhi demanded EVMs after the BJP won 86 seats in 1989, but Rahul Gandhi now demands ballot papers after BJP's 2014 victory — calling Congress 'confused' on the issue.
Did BJP really win 86 seats in the 1989 election?
Yes. The BJP rose from 2 Lok Sabha seats in 1984 to 86 seats in the 1989 general election, marking its emergence as a major national party.
Why does Rahul Gandhi want ballot papers instead of EVMs?
Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders have argued, particularly after 2014 and 2019 election losses, that EVMs could be hacked or manipulated, and have called for a return to paper ballots.
Are EVMs legal and valid in India?
Yes. The Supreme Court of India has upheld the constitutional validity of EVMs in multiple rulings and directed the Election Commission to introduce VVPAT machines as an additional transparency measure.
When were EVMs first used in Indian elections?
EVMs were first trialled by the Election Commission of India in a 1982 by-election in Kerala before being phased into national use over subsequent decades.
