The Mahagathbandhan has suffered quite the drubbing in the Bihar Elections. Instead of introspecting and attempting to learn the hard lessons from the results, the Congress party has fallen back to its standard ‘Vote Chori’ propaganda.
‘Vote Chori’ is the flavour of the season for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party right now. Once upon a time, it was ‘Suit Boot Ki Sarkar’. Then, it was ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’. Then, for a time, it was ‘Ambani-Adani’. He followed that up with ‘Jitni Abadi Utna Haq’. Now, it is ‘Vote Chori’.
Needless to say, each of those attacks failed spectacularly at the polls. While political analysts across the spectrum are saying that there is no evidence of ‘Vote Chori’, the Indian National Congress is yet to see any reason to abandon the lost cause.
Even senior Congress leaders in Bihar are now admitting that ‘Vote Chori’ did not find any resonance with the electorate. Yet, given the party’s conduct post the results, we can safely assume that it’s only a matter of time before Rahul Gandhi emerges with a new powerpoint presentation.
But such propaganda is not ideal for the health of our democracy. Crores of Indians still do vote for the Congress party. If even a minuscule portion of them buy into the lies, it’s not hard to imagine things going South pretty quickly.
Fortunately, we do know what happens when such lies take root. We have the ‘Orange Man’ in USA to thank for it.
‘Stop The Steal’: The American version of Vote Chori
After Joe Biden won the presidential elections in 2020, Donald Trump refused to accept the results. Even while the counting was on, many of his supporters wanted to stop the counting of votes. When that did not happen, they wanted states to not certify the results.
Donald Trump himself used the slogan ‘Stop The Steal’ to stop the certification of results. All of this culminated with the Capitol Hill Riots. Now, I do not think only Trump supporters should be blamed for the riots. There’s sufficient indication that American intelligence agencies were involved at some level.
Nevertheless, when you gather thousands of people at a place after you have convinced them that the elections were stolen from their favourite presidential candidate, ugly things are bound to happen. And ugly things did happen.
Donald Trump abandoned his supporters pretty quickly after things turned violent. He issued a perfunctory statement urging protesters to not engage in violence. Central figures in Trump World such as Alex Jones, too, advocated non-violence.
But by then, it was too late. The entire American State Machinery cracked down on the Trump supporters. Many of them spent a long time in prison. Some of them quite unfairly. One Trump supporter even died during the protests.
Lessons for Rahul Gandhi fans
Predictably, Trump himself did not suffer any consequence for the riots. He brainwashed his supporters, fed them a vicious lie and took the proverbial horse to the river. But the horse drunk from the forbidden waters on its own. For that, Trump could not be punished.
Yes, some states did attempt to prosecute him. Their attempts failed along expected lines. His supporters, however, were not so lucky. Supporters of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party should take note. When things get rough, and they will if the Congress party continues in its current trajectory, their favourite leader will drop them like hot cakes.
Rahul Gandhi cares more about his political fortunes than anything else. He will gladly sacrifice his supporters at the altar of ‘Vote Chori’ if it means he can defeat Narendra Modi. It’s up to his followers to decide whether they want to be pawns in the games powerful men play.
They should take a good look at how the senior Mahagathbandhan ally has reacted to the results. They flirted with ‘Vote Chori’ propaganda in the immediate aftermath of the results. But they soon realised the folly of their ways. Since then, they have admitted that the propaganda simply did not work. They are now also admitting that they failed to capture the electorate’s imagination.
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Political analysts and journalists closely linked to the Congress ecosystem are also saying the same thing. Apart from those with vested interests such as Yogendra Yadav, they are by and large admitting that ‘Vote Chori’ was not an issue in Bihar. There was nothing wrong with the SIR process. Instead, they are mostly blaming the frivolousness that has come to define Gandhi’s political career.
When even well-wishers are not buying into Congress propaganda, it’s time for their supporters to take not.
Nothing good will come of Vote Chori
Donald Trump managed to revive his political career despite almost wrecking it himself. His charisma and genuine political skill played a huge part. But his political opposition’s incompetence helped him greatly. His conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election stopped being an issue because the Biden Administration fumbled massively.
Rahul Gandhi has none of that going for him. He does not have Trump’s charisma or the political skill. Trump was already President for a term. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has not held any top political office ever in his career.
Also, he is not facing an incompetent opposition. The BJP is the most successful political machine India has ever seen since the 1980s. Narendra Modi is arguably the most popular Indian Prime Minister ever. The Congress party is clearly taking lessons from the success of the ‘Orange Man’. But Trump’s success is not applicable to the Indian context.
The only thing that Rahul Gandhi might succeed at is getting his fans into lots of trouble. A wounded animal is always more dangerous. And right now, Rahul Gandhi is wounded. His ego has taken a massive beating once again. He likely thought that his political stocks were on the rise after the Lok Sabha Elections in 2024.
Assembly elections since then have given him a strong reality check. He could get very desperate in the elections to come. There are already reports that the Congress party has called off the INDI Alliance. That reeks of desperation more than sound strategy. He could get even more desperate in the days to come.
No one should worry more about that than his own supporters.
