Even before the election results, the ruling BJP was in a celebratory mood on Tuesday with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah organising thanksgiving parties for the Union Cabinet and NDA allies.

The ruling party condemned the Opposition for raising concerns over EVM movements and alleged tampering, especially in Uttar Pradesh, and asserted that these were the signals of “frustration at their impending loss”.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took a swipe at the opposition, saying EVMs were fine when Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu and Amarinder Singh won elections, but the machines turn unreliable when it appears that Modi is winning the election.

Targets Opposition

“EVMs are good when Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister of West Bengal twice and Amarinder Singh became the Chief Minister of Punjab. If they win, EVMs are good. But when there is an expectation that we will win, because people of this country want Narendra Modi to be Prime Minister again, then EVMs are unreliable,” Prasad said.

He advised the Opposition to “accept their defeat with grace” even though 48 hours were left before the counting of the first vote. The counting of votes is on May 23.

Meanwhile, the BJP President welcomed the PM and all members of the Council of Ministers at the party headquarters for a “get together” late in the afternoon.

The BJP described the meeting as an occasion to thank ministers for “their service to the nation” ahead of the counting of votes. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, JP Nadda and Prakash Javadekar were among the key BJP leaders present at the meeting.

A few ministers belonging to BJP’s alliance partners, including Ram Vilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party, Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Akali Dal and Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal, were also present.

Amit Shah also hosted a dinner in the evening for BJP leaders and their alliance partners.

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) President Nitish Kumar also arrived in Delhi for the dinner meeting.

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