The ECI’s infamous affidavit to the Hon’ble Supreme Court, its grand defence against the pervasive Vote Chori allegations surrounding SIR, was hailed by the BJP as a masterstroke. Yet, the affidavit is riddled with logical inconsistencies, glaring contradictions and questions its authors appear to have failed to anticipate. So much so that the government has now turned to its friends at Meta to get copies of the affidavit and its explanations taken down from Instagram - a platform where a large number of young Indians consume digital content. The objective? To help the ECI conceal just how deeply flawed its defence is, and how poorly thought through its attempt to justify Vote Chori is. One would expect an institution defending its conduct before the Supreme Court to know better than to dig a grave for itself with its own lies. But Mohan-Modi-Shah-Gyanesh are a dedicated lot.