New Delhi: As top leaders of the INDIA opposition bloc convened in New Delhi on Wednesday to chart a joint strategy against the Election Commission, a string of large hoardings appeared across the capital accusing Opposition figures of flip-flopping on the poll body’s credibility.
The posters, which did not carry any party logo or name, juxtaposed statements attributed to key leaders to suggest they praise the Election Commission of India (ECI) when their parties win but denounce it after defeats.
Though the source of the hoardings was not disclosed, the BJP moved quickly to link the moment to internal doubts about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s authority within the alliance.
Ashish Usha Agrawal, national convenor of the BJP’s Media Department, said on X: “Who all will distance themselves from Rahul Gandhi will become clear today in the INDIA alliance meeting.”
He followed this with a Hindi couplet, saying: “And if some faces appear different, then for Rahul Gandhi, all one can say is: Some compulsions must have been there; no one becomes unfaithful without a reason.”
He concluded: “The question now is not just about the meeting, but about the trust in Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.”
‘ECI Same. The Story Changes’
One hoarding was split into two panels — “When they win” and “When they lose”. Under the first, it carried: “SIR may have helped Congress”, attributed to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor; under the second: “ECI is not doing its job”, again citing Tharoor. The poster ended with the line: “ECI same. The story changes.”
Another, headlined “Hypocrisy at its peak”, contrasted Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee’s reported remark under a “Winning” tag — “There is no substance in the allegation against the EC” — with a “Losing” quote from former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee: “Chief Election Commissioner should be arrested.”
A third poster, in Hindi and English, described the “INDI Alliance” as practising “double standards”, with the tagline: “Jeete to ECI ko taali, haare to ECI ko gaali” (applause for the ECI in victory, criticism in defeat). It displayed photographs of several Opposition leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien objected to the deliberate use of “INDI alliance”, writing on X: “Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). BJP deliberately distorts and refers to it as INDI alliance. Godi media. Please call it by its name: INDIA. Thank you.”
The hoardings surfaced as INDIA bloc chiefs met to finalise a joint agitation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and to press for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, as reported by The New Indian Express.
Sources said a draft notice for a fresh attempt to move a removal motion in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha was ready for discussion.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, TMC’s Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee, and leaders from the SP, CPI, CPI(M), NCP(SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are expected to participate in the meeting. The DMK and
AAP said they would not attend, while SP chief Akhilesh Yadav skipped the meet due to Rajya Sabha nomination work in Uttar Pradesh. The SP is expected to send its representatives, though.