Comments
The ruling BJP on Wednesday slammed the Opposition for “disrespecting the people’s mandate” by casting doubts over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and questioning institutional procedures laid down by the Election Commission and the Supreme Court for the counting of votes.
The ruling party seemed outraged by the resistance put up by what the Opposition parties have termed as the BJP’s bid to “steal” the mandate. The BJP, on its part, has declared that it is winning “over 300 seats”, a claim that has been validated by all the exit polls during the culmination of the seventh and last phase of voting.
In this backdrop, the BJP termed the demand by 22 Opposition parties — to begin the counting of votes by first counting five random Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) — as a move to “tarnish” Indian democracy.
Through social media and later in a statement issued by the central BJP, party President Amit Shah accused the Opposition of “conspiring” to spread anarchy in the country because they have lost the popular support.
“Opposing EVMs is disrespecting the people’s mandate. Devastated by the prospect of their imminent defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, these 22 opposition parties are tarnishing the image of Indian democracy and the democratic process, before the nation and the entire world,” said Amit Shah. Shah directed six questions at the Opposition, starting with why the questions over the EVMs were not raised when the Aam Aadmi Party won 67 out of 70 Assembly seats in the 2015 Delhi elections or when the Congress formed governments in four States — Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
“Should it be presumed that when the Opposition wins, then it emerges victorious, but when it loses, it blames EVMs? If they do not trust EVMs, then why did they form government?” Shah asked.
On SC’s order
He asked the Opposition whether they are also questioning the Supreme Court’s decision to reject counting of all VVPATs of all EVMs.
He said the demand for VVPAT counting and the agitation against EVMs has started only after the exit polls predicted a victory for the BJP.
“I want to ask the Opposition – exit polls are conducted after surveying voters. The process does not involve the EVMs. So why are you questioning the machines?” Shah asked.
He took exception to the statement by former NDA ally and now in Opposition, the leader of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) Upendra Kushwaha, who warned that people can take up arms and “rivers of blood will flow” in the event of the BJP manipulating the polls.
Shah said such comments have no place in democracy.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.