Don’t Blame the EVM, Blame Your Mouth: Congress’ Pahalgam Blunders and the Rahul Doctrine
When terrorists struck in Pahalgam on April 22, killing civilians and tourists alike, the nation expected its political leaders to speak with one voice — resolute, compassionate, and unwavering in their condemnation of terror. Instead, what followed from the Congress Party was a familiar and disturbing display of verbal acrobatics, tone-deaf remarks, and desperate political calculations that alienated the very citizens they claim to represent.
Vijay Wadettiwar, Congress MLA from Maharashtra, questioned whether the terrorists verified the religion of their victims — a grotesquely inappropriate question in the wake of a terror attack. R.B. Timmapur, Karnataka’s Excise Minister, implied the incident shouldn’t be communalized, ignoring the blatant involvement of Pakistan-backed Lashkar proxies. Robert Vadra, never one to miss an opportunity to embarrass himself and his party, made such controversial remarks that legal petitions were filed against him. The Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, urged restraint and subtly redirected the debate toward internal issues — as if Pakistan’s fingerprints weren’t already smeared across the crime scene.
The public noticed. And the backlash has begun.
Congress, in a now-familiar move, tried to distance itself from its own leaders by issuing internal gag orders. Party spokespersons claimed these views don’t represent the official line. But the damage was already done. In the age of instant media, it doesn’t matter whether the high command officially sanctions a statement — what matters is what the public hears and remembers.
And the public remembers everything. Especially betrayal dressed up as neutrality.
As of now, there is no election immediately following the Pahalgam incident. But make no mistake — when the time comes, the electoral consequences will follow. The backlash will mature into rejection. And then, true to the script he’s followed since 2014, Rahul Gandhi will pop up and blame the EVMs. It’s not even a theory anymore — it’s tradition. When the people don’t vote for Congress, the fault lies not in the party’s conduct, its tone-deafness, or its credibility. It lies in the machine. The EVM becomes the villain, and Rahul Gandhi the self-declared victim of a democratic conspiracy.
But machines don’t make speeches that insult national sentiment. Machines don’t ask if victims were Hindu or Muslim before condemning a terror attack. Machines don’t excuse terror as geopolitical misunderstanding. That’s all flesh and blood — Congress flesh and Rahul Gandhi blood.
The Congress party today is afflicted with a disease far more damaging than any electoral loss: the inability to introspect. Instead of confronting the reasons for its decline — opportunistic appeasement, lack of national alignment, confused leadership — it chooses to gaslight the electorate. It loses, then mourns democracy. It offends, then demands sympathy.
But here’s a dose of reality for Mr. Gandhi and his chorus line: the EVM isn’t your problem. The voter is. And unlike a machine, the voter remembers everything. Especially when you choose to stand anywhere but with the nation.
So when the next defeat comes, and it will, don’t waste your breath accusing silicon chips and circuit boards. The real malfunction lies between the mic and the mouth.
