After the assembly election results show that BJP would comfortably form governments in three states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan – Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi raised questions on EVMs (Electronic Voting Machine). He made the claims even though Congress won the polls in Telangana by defeating BRS.
Anshu Awasthi said, “We have been saying again and again that a deliberation on EVMs needs to happen. All political parties have raised this question before the Election Commission. To ensure that the country’s trust in democracy continues, EVMs need to be removed and it needs to be deliberated upon.”
“It is not possible that people’s desire on the ground is something else and EVMs say something entirely different. So, it needs to be deliberated upon. The country wants this, we want this,” the Congress spokesperson added.
On Sunday (3rd December), the counting day in four states, the Congress spokesperson blamed the EVMs for the Congress party’s defeat in three states and asserted that it is necessary to introspect.
However, the Congress spokesmen remained silent on the fact that the EVMs were also used in Telangana where the Congress party achieved victory by winning 64 seats in the 119 member house, against 38 won by incumbent BRS.
In the 44-second video, Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi cast aspersions on the EVMs. According to the Congress spokesperson, it is important for people to not have faith in EVM but in the democracy of the country. The Congress leader also said that he has expressed his concerns to the Election Commission. He even went on to add that if necessary, EVMs should be removed.
According to media reports, earlier as well, many opposition leaders have raised doubts and aspersions on EVMs. Two months earlier, Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tiwari had also demanded that elections should be conducted through ballot instead of EVMs.
Expressing fear of rigging and tampering in EVM machines, Manish Tiwari said that the country’s democracy cannot be left to technology. Apart from raising aspersions on EVMs, Congress raised questions on the exit polls after it predicted that the BJP government would be formed in Madhya Pradesh.
As per the Election Commission of India, the BJP has retained its government in Madhya Pradesh with 163 seats while it has defeated the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh with 54 seats against 35 won by Congress, In Rajasthan BJP has won 115 seats to win the polls against 69 won by Congress. On the other hand, the Congress won the Telangana election with 64 seats against 39 secured by BRS, where CM K. Chandrashekar Rao lost his seat.