New Delhi: Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi took a swipe at the Congress party on Wednesday, over its dismal performance in the recently held Legislative Council elections.
“Whether it is ballot paper or the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the outcome for the Congress party remains the same,” Joshi said, taking potshots at the grand old party’s zero show in the MLC elections.
The results for the MLC elections 2026 have been announced for 28 seats spanning four states – Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Congress has drawn a blank in three states and also remains out of the reckoning in Maharashtra, where the counting is reportedly underway for five seats.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance and Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are at loggerheads, but there too, the Congress seems to be on a sticky wicket.
The Union Minister said that the party failed to win even a single seat out of 28 Legislative Council seats, contested across four states.
Joshi said the Congress party keeps harping on vote theft and questioning democratic institutions, yet still blames the system when election results don’t go in its favour.
Pointing specifically to Congress-ruled Karnataka, he said that the party suffered a crushing defeat, with even its incumbent Legislative Council members failing to retain their seats.
He said the party consistently raises questions over the EVMs and cries foul over alleged irregularities, but when it came to elections through ballot boxes, it too failed to register a win and suffered a humiliating defeat.
The election results have rather cast doubts on the validity of the Congress party’s allegations, he claimed.
Notably, the MLC elections were held for 28 graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies, spread across four states. In Uttar Pradesh, 11 Legislative Council seats went to polls, comprising 5 graduates’ and 6 teachers’ constituencies.
In Bihar, 8 Legislative Council seats included 4 graduates’ constituencies and 4 teachers’ constituencies, while in Maharashtra, 5 Legislative Council seats, covering three graduates’ constituencies and two teachers’ constituencies, went to the hustings. In Karnataka, Congress lost all four constituencies.
(IANS)
