Did Congress consider boycotting Delhi polls?

New Delhi: A former All India Congress Committee (AICC) office bearer suggested to the leadership, just before the Delhi Assembly elections, that the party boycott the polls to support the opposition’s demand for a return to the ballot paper system, citing serious concerns over the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The office bearer, a former AICC secretary, urged members of the party’s screening committee for the Delhi polls to take the moral high ground and withdraw from the contest. 

He argued that this would serve the twin purposes of demonstrating Congress’ solidarity with other opposition parties of the INDIA bloc and various organisations seeking the restoration of the old ballot paper system, while also saving the party from the ignominy of another impending crushing defeat in the national capital.

The office bearer further contended that a poll boycott would ensure a direct fight between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sending a strong message to other political parties that Congress was willing to go the extra mile for the larger interests of opposition unity.

However, Congress rejected the proposal and contested the polls. While the party failed to open its account for the third consecutive time since 2015, it inadvertently helped the BJP win several seats by splitting the AAP vote. In many tightly contested seats, this division of votes enabled the BJP to secure victories.

Many Congress leaders claimed that, for the first time in its over 140-year history, the grand old party has been labeled the “B-team” of a party that owes its existence to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the BJP.

Several Congress leaders were shocked to see the party celebrate the AAP’s ouster and the BJP’s victory in Delhi. Strange bedfellows indeed.