Pralhad Joshi in Jaipur: Congress Questions Institutions After Poll Defeats

Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday accused the Congress, and Rahul Gandhi in particular, of questioning courts, constitutional bodies and the democratic process whenever it loses elections. Speaking at a news conference at the BJP state headquarters in Jaipur, he said the opposition party was trying to create confusion, fear and instability.

Joshi said the Congress was repackaging a "failed project" under new names despite voters having rejected it. He claimed that people close to Prashant Bhushan and Rahul Gandhi were openly discussing a change of government and even regime change. In his words, elections are the only constitutional route to changing a government, and power can shift only through the voters' mandate.

He also alleged that Congress was pointing to Bangladesh as a model of regime change and that Gandhi was backing the idea. Citing reports of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, Joshi said it was inappropriate to advocate political upheaval in India.

On Gandhi's "vote theft" charge, Joshi cited the Karnataka Legislative Council polls, saying Congress lost all four seats in ballot-paper elections, and a round of contests for 28 assembly seats in which it won just one, according to him. He added that Congress lost Tripura local body elections despite the use of ballot papers. He also invoked former chief election commissioners M S Gill, T N Seshan and Navin Chawla to question the party's record toward the Election Commission, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committed to independent, impartial electoral institutions.

Turning to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, Joshi challenged the Congress claim that nearly 13 crore voters had been removed. He asked whether every name should be restored without verification, noting that many entries relate to people who have died, moved permanently or cannot be traced. Eligible citizens can still apply online, he said, and Congress should help clean up the rolls.

The minister then brought in the economy, a theme markets watchers will recognise. He argued that Congress protests around Diwali disrupted trade and caused losses to traders he estimated at about Rs 20,000 crore, a figure that is his own claim and was not independently verified in the report. Against that, he said, the economy was growing at 7.8% despite global headwinds and India had more than 2.40 lakh startups.

Joshi, a former Rajasthan BJP in-charge, also said he stayed in the state through his assignment and put Congress's losses down to a lack of effort by its leadership, alleging leaders did not work hard or give workers room to grow. The remarks are a reminder of how electoral-roll revisions, poll credibility and growth data are being woven into one political argument ahead of future contests.

Source: Times of India

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