NEW DELHI: Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has accused the Congress of disrespecting the public mandate after electoral defeats, alleging that questioning the Election Commission and demanding ballot-paper voting reflected the party’s “DNA”.Chouhan said that while the Congress accepts the Election Commission when it wins elections, it questions the poll body when it loses. Referring to the party’s victories in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, he asked why the Congress had not raised similar concerns then.Congress demands ballot paperWhile speaking to the reporters on Sunday, he also criticised Congress leaders for demanding a return to ballot-paper voting, recalling allegations of booth capturing and ballot-paper manipulation during the 1980s and 1990s.“Why does the Congress oppose technology that ensures transparent electoral processes?” Chouhan said, accusing the party of trying to undermine democratic institutions.He also invoked the Emergency, alleging that the Congress had weakened democracy in the past and was repeating the same approach.
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The remarks came a day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies, alleging that the elections that brought the current governments to power were “illegal”. He also demanded fresh elections using ballot papers.“Today, the entire country is being run on illegal elections. Modi is an illegal Prime Minister, Shah is an illegal minister, and all the chief ministers who have been elected anywhere are illegal. All of them should be dissolved, elections should be held, and elections should be conducted through ballot papers,” Kharge told reporters in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, on Saturday.
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