‘Take Gyanesh Kumar to America and keep him there’: Congress taunts Trump’s praise, also offers to send EVM

The country’s politics has heated up after US President Donald Trump publicly praised India’s election system and voter identification process. Trump mentioned Indian Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar while advocating stricter voter identification rules in America, soon after which Congress has hit back by targeting the Election Commission.

what is the whole matter

US President Donald Trump wrote a post on the social media platform ‘Truth Social’ supporting his ‘SAVE America Act’. Trump claimed that India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had asked him how elections could be held in a country like America without a valid photo ID? Giving the example of the 2024 Indian Lok Sabha elections, Trump said that more than 64.6 crore people voted there and every voter had a valid photo ID.

Congress’s sharp counterattack

After this statement of Trump, Congress spokesperson Pawan Kheda created a stir by writing a taunting post on the social media platform ‘X’. Pawan Kheda wrote, “Dear Trump, please take Gyanesh Kumar Gupta to America and keep him there. We will also send our EVMs on the next available flight. This is the least we can do for you.” Kheda ended his post with “To SIR With Love, from India”, which is believed to be a dig at the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) of electoral voter lists.

Old disputes between CEC and Congress

This attack by Congress is not just a recent reaction, but behind it is also the party’s old dispute with the Election Commission. In the year 2025, Rahul Gandhi had accused the Election Commission of “vote theft” and claimed rigging in the voter lists. The controversy that started over the Mahadevapura assembly seat in Karnataka had escalated so much that the Election Commission had asked Rahul Gandhi to submit an affidavit in support of his claims or apologize. During the tenure of Gyanesh Kumar, there have been many confrontations between the Election Commission and opposition parties regarding transparency.

Meaning of Trump’s advocacy

This statement of Donald Trump is part of the larger debate going on in America regarding election reforms. They continue to demand that proof of citizenship be made mandatory for federal voter registration. Trump believes that India’s vast democratic system, where crores of people vote through photo ID without any controversy, can be an ideal model for America. However, this praise of Trump has once again heated up the issue of impartiality of the Election Commission and EVMs in India.