‘Why is PM not speaking on stealing of democracy?’: Gaurav Gogoi questions Modi over MLC polls

Congress leaders on October 29 questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on the recent Legislative Council (MLC) election results, with Gaurav Gogoi accusing him of avoiding the issue of alleged electoral irregularities and Manish Tewari criticising comparisons between elections held under different circumstances.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi asked why Modi was commenting on MLC polls instead of addressing what he described as the “stealing of democracy”.

“Why is the PM not speaking on the stealing of democracy? We have heard what the Union Home Minister had to say. Why can't the PM speak on this most important observation? Instead, he is speaking on MLC elections,” Gogoi told ANI.

Congress MP Manish Tewari also criticised the Prime Minister's remarks, arguing that elections conducted under different circumstances and through different electoral colleges could not be compared.

“Every election has a different context. The scope of the MLC elections and their electoral college are entirely distinct. Therefore, comparing one election to another in this context is not becoming of someone holding the office of the Prime Minister,” Tewari said in Chandigarh.

Tewari also questioned the purpose of the padyatra being led by BJP president Nitin Nabin, alleging that 13 crore people had been disenfranchised.

“What is the purpose of their padyatra? If they were to restore the voting rights of 13 crore people who have been disenfranchised, the situation would normalise on its own,” he said.

“It is a strange irony that those in government—who are the very ones responsible for this situation—are now organising a padyatra merely to gloss over the issue,” Tewari added.

Separately, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh called for an end to MLC elections conducted through graduates' and teachers' constituencies, alleging that money played a significant role in the process.

“The candidates that get elected in such elections (one with graduates' and teachers' constituencies), you ask them about the exchange of money and how candidates are brought. This is an election of money. Such elections should be stopped,” Singh told ANI.

Singh also clarified that the Congress's demand for paper ballots applied to direct elections, not MLC polls, which follow a preferential voting system. Under this system, votes are counted in multiple rounds before the final result is declared.

“This is certainly a ballot box election, but it is a preferential vote. One vote is counted three times, and only then does the result come out, whereas in a ballot box election, the votes cast by whoever are counted right then. So we were not demanding elections of this kind,” he said.

The Congress leaders' remarks came after Prime Minister Modi praised the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) victory in the MLC elections in a social media post, describing the results as a reaffirmation of public trust in the ruling coalition.