Congress President Challenges Modi to Hold Ballot-Paper Elections
Mallikarjun Kharge challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dissolve Parliament and hold elections using ballot papers amid protests over alleged voter deletions.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 29 to dissolve Parliament and conduct national elections using ballot papers. The demand follows allegations from the Indian National Congress that electoral rolls suffered large-scale deletions targeting minorities and socially weaker sections, a process Kharge described as vote chori.
The dispute intensified after Modi posted on social media mocking the Congress party's poor performance in recent Legislative Council elections across four states—Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Karnataka—where ballot papers were used. While the National Democratic Alliance won all four seats in Karnataka, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat countered the Prime Minister's claims by highlighting BJP losses in paper-ballot elections in Varanasi and Nagpur.
In response, the INDIA bloc is organizing a symbolic public impeachment of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. This includes a mock parliamentary session at Kharge's New Delhi residence on October 30 and a mega protest in Delhi on November 1. Kharge accused Kumar of dismantling democratic norms under the direction of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, claiming the commissioner committed mischief within the Election Commission of India.
