New Delhi: A Congress panel probing the Gujarat poll debacle is likely to flag “doubtful role of BJP in disturbing the EVMs” and “internal sabotage” as reasons behind the grand old party’s worst-ever electoral performance.
According to sources, the suspicious role of the ruling BJP in disturbing the Electronic Voting Machines and damage from within have surfaced prominently as the reasons that led to the Congress coming down from 77/182 seats in 2017 to just 17 in 2022.
“The role of the EVMs and other electoral malpractices is suspicious as several strange things happened such as lights above the EVM were turned off. At other places, the voting process was delayed. The BJP has played mischief with the EVMs. They disturbed the voters. Different techniques were adopted in different places,” a senior AICC functionary in the know of things said on condition of anonymity.
“The Congress votes were transferred to AAP. The locals are not able to digest the fact that Congress votes shifted to the AAP. Even committed Congress votes shifted to the AAP in places where the new party had no presence on the ground either in terms of booth-level workers or local party office. This is surprising. There was some wrongdoing,” the party functionary said.
According to party insiders, the grand old party was very bullish in Gujarat and had hoped to improve its vote share by 10 per cent but the vote share dropped by 13 per cent from 40 per cent to 27 per cent.
Also Read: Congress plans 'gharwapsi' of DAP rebels in a message to Azad
The party insiders further said that it was interesting that the AAP, which had contested the Gujarat assembly polls for the first time, gained the same percentage of votes (13 per cent) lost by the Congress. According to sources, the probe panel is also concerned over the “internal sabotage” factor as “the strategic plan was deferred” at some places in the state.
In this light, the panel may opt for some drastic measures, including revamping the entire state team and fixing accountability at all levels in the state team. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had formed a three-member committee on January 4 to probe the reasons behind the loss and asked it to submit a report in two weeks.
However, the committee headed by Maharashtra leader Nitin Raut and including Lok Sabha member Saptagiri Ulaka and Bihar MLA Dr Shakeel Ahmed Khan, has told Kharge that it needs more time to conduct a detailed study of the Gujarat results.
“We are conducting vigorous field surveys. We need around two weeks more to submit the report,” Nitin Raut told ETV Bharat. AICC sources said the probe panel needs to do a thorough job as Gujarat is the home state of both PM Modi and union home minister Amit Shah.
“The panel is travelling across the state and is meeting local level workers at the block and Taluka level to find out the reasons behind the defeat. It will also talk to PCC, AICC officials and the AICC coordinators,” said a senior functionary, adding that the panel has covered zones like Ahmedabad, Mehsana and Baroda and will soon go to Surat and Saurashtra regions.
