Union Home Minister Amit Shah joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi in mocking the Congress after the party failed to win any of the 28 Legislative Council seats contested across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka in elections conducted using ballot papers.
Taking a sarcastic swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Shah shared an Instagram meme featuring a figure holding a placard that read, “Ballot Box, resign!” The ballot box was depicted with a sad, sweating face, seemingly wondering whether it would be the next target of the Congress’s criticism.
The meme carried the mocking question, “How many of the 28 seats did you win? ‘Zero’”, accompanied by a face-with-tears-of-joy emoji.
Shah’s post came amid Rahul Gandhi’s repeated criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), which he has often described as a “black box” that cannot be scrutinised.
Earlier, Modi had also taken a dig at the Congress, asking his followers to guess how many seats the party had won in the elections and ending his post with a face-with-monocle emoji.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” he asked.
Modi’s remarks referred to the Congress’s repeated opposition to EVMs and its demand that elections be conducted using paper ballots. The party contested 12 of the 28 seats but failed to win any, while counting was still underway in some constituencies.
The face-with-monocle emoji is commonly used to convey curiosity, scrutiny or scepticism. Modi used it to ridicule the Congress over its failure to secure a seat in the elections.
In Karnataka, where the Congress is in power, the party had previously held all four seats that went to the polls but lost each of them. The JD(S) won one seat from the Congress, while its ally, the BJP, retained three seats.
Polling took place on October 23 across six teachers’ and five graduates’ constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, four constituencies in Bihar, two in Karnataka, and three graduates’ and two teachers’ constituencies in Maharashtra. Counting began on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday in some constituencies.
In Maharashtra, the BJP-led ruling Mahayuti was leading in three seats, while the opposition NCP (SP) was ahead in two. In Bihar, the Jan Suraaj Party won its first seat, while the BJP, JD(U), RJD and an Independent candidate each secured one seat.
The Congress and several other Opposition parties have called for elections to be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs, alleging that the machines were being manipulated to benefit the BJP.
They have also organised nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The BJP and its allies, meanwhile, argued that the MLC election results had exposed the Congress’s “vote chori”, or vote theft, campaign.
