From the look on the faces of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge at the June 4 press conference as captured and amplified by our media platforms, an uninitiated observer might mistakenly think the Congress Party had won the general election. The statements from the party’s leaders, too, reflect this euphoria: “This is both a political and a moral defeat for (Narendra) Modi,” declared Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. “It’s time to pick up your bags and head to the Himalayas.
” Politically, the INDIA bloc is claiming it rescued democracy and the Constitution. True. But there is a little more to the phenomenon.
Mr Ramesh found at least a partial vindication later that day. In Varanasi, a constituency of nearly 20 lakh voters, Mr Modi won by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes, while up the road in Rae Bareli, a constituency of less than 10 lakh voters, Rahul Gandhi won by an astounding 3.
9 lakh votes. The mere re-insertion of the checks-and-balances process into the system seems to be a cause for celebration, yet a comparison begs several questions. After early counts showed a robust performance by INDIA, by the afternoon, when one of my sources said the Election Commission was delaying the counting, the numbers began to differ across YouTube channels, although they eventually fell in line, more or less.
A widespread suspicion of election malfunction continues to lurk, going by social media comments. The chief election commissioner chose to dismiss this declined trust in the fo.
