Vote Chori | Rahul Gandhi’s fight to save democracy, or bid to make a comeback?

Rahul Gandhi’s lack of interest in power machinations is visible in the trust reposed in his leadership by the parties that the Congress is in contest against in many states

The response of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to charges of voter list manipulation by Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi suggests that there may have been massive fraud in the electoral processes. 

Instead of offering a clarification or an investigation into the alleged ‘vote theft’, the ECI has asked the Leader of Opposition to sign an affidavit making the charges under oath or tender an apology, which sounds more like a threat than a clarification.

It is unclear, however, for how long such alleged manipulation of voter rolls has been going on, but the ECI seems in no mood to entertain any complaints. 

If this trend continues for the foreseeable future, with elections looming in Bihar and then West Bengal, what can the Opposition do? 

The Opposition could approach the two major allies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and Chandra Babu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party — to withdraw support from the Narendra Modi-led coalition government. The charges of electoral fraud would stick to them as well unless they distance themselves from the alleged fraud, and they will also be seen as complicit in the corrupt practices.

The other option is for the Opposition to hope for an implosion in the BJP. The question then is whether all those BJP leaders who have been shortchanged by the current regime will rise in rebellion. There is a large section of disgruntled leaders , and this might be their opportunity to assert themselves. 

Until now, the parent organisation of the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has maintained a stoic silence on voter list manipulation charges. However, it may step in and take the reins to stem the damage to the credibility of the ruling BJP. 

It is quite possible that the RSS will play a waiting game rather than take any decisive action immediately in a bid to salvage the situation. 

The Hindutva ideologues believe in the victor-vanquished philosophy, and firmly support victory at any cost because history, they think, only remembers the victor and pushes the vanquished into oblivion. This necessarily means one could justify violence and unrighteous actions to establish dharma. This mode of thinking is closely associated with producing demagogues like Narendra Modi who have an innate belief in their power to sway the masses. Modi seems to believe that he is still on a victory run and there has been little change in his demagoguery as well as dismissiveness of the Opposition.

Gandhi, however, is convinced that the electoral results in the past have been compromised and were aimed at setting a dominant narrative formulated by Modi and the BJP. As he put it in his press conference, election results were justified based on creating a mahaul (atmosphere). He pointed to creating a narrative of victory to hide the ‘voter theft’. However, the atmosphere is created not only by winning elections, but also by selectively losing in a few constituencies. 

One cannot forget the fate of erstwhile Ashoka University professor Sabyasachi Das, who had claimed that in the 2019 elections BJP won a disproportionate number of seats in closely contested constituencies. He concluded that, “The evidence presented is consistent with electoral manipulation and is less supportive of the campaigning hypothesis. Manipulation appears to take the form of targeted deletion of voter names and electoral discrimination against India’s largest minority group – Muslims – partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers. The results present a worrying development for the future of the world’s largest democracy”. 

The greatest relief for the counter-offence of the Opposition is the uncompromising leadership of Rahul Gandhi. He does not seem to be driven by electoral calculations alone. He claims to be more inspired by the larger fight against fraud and the stealing of democracy from the common people. He has repeatedly stated this is not a ‘political’ but a constitutional battle to establish the principle of ‘one man, one vote’. 

Gandhi’s lack of interest in power machinations is visible in the trust reposed in his leadership by the parties that the Congress is in contest against in many states.

Those at the helm in the current regime may be driven by the fear of losing political power. This may drive them to extreme action against the Opposition. As of now, however, Gandhi’s aggressive presence in the public domain seems to have diminished Modi’s grandstanding. Perhaps after more than a decade in power, there is no more space left for reinventing Modi’s Midas touch. 

Will Rahul Gandhi succeed in his endeavour to resuscitate Indian democracy? 

Every rebellion needs a convincing narrative and its acceptance by the masses. Gandhi must link the issue of vote fraud to the people’s basic concerns. It needs to take the shape of an anti-systemic narrative, which Modi had monopolised all this time. After more than 10 years as prime minister, Modi, however, can no longer continue to play the underdog without a political pedigree. 

Will people trust that Rahul Gandhi’s is a fight to save the nation and not a bid to make a comeback? The answer will be evident if people turn out in large numbers in the series of nationwide protests he plans to organise. 

Ajay Gudavarthy is Associate Professor at Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

This article was first published under Creative Commons by 360info.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.