NEW DELHI, OCT 28:
The Congress on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his taunt at the opposition party’s dismal show in the MLC elections, saying that if the PM is so confident that EVMs have no bearing on election results, he should prove his confidence in the BJP’s electoral prowess through action, not rhetoric.
The Congress said if the PM believes that EVMs have no bearing on the election results then he should commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections by ballot paper, going forward.
The opposition party’s assertion came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi taunted the Congress for its dismal show in the MLC elections despite the use of paper ballots, a key demand of opposition parties in their campaign against EVMs.
The Congress drew a blank in Karnataka while the BJP won five legislative council seats in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party three as results were announced on Wednesday for the biennial elections held in 28 upper house constituencies across four states.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” Modi said in a post on ‘X’.
Reacting to Modi’s remarks, Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said if Narendra Modi is so confident that EVMs have no bearing on election results, let him prove his confidence in the BJP’s electoral prowess through action, not rhetoric.
“Commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections by ballot paper going forward. Suspend SIR and restore the 13.3 crore voters illegally deleted from the electoral rolls. Terminate Gyanesh Gupta. Repeal the law that gives life long immunity to Gyanesh Gupta,” Khera said on X.
Until Modi acts on these demands, his claims are nothing but hogwash — hollow words no one can take seriously, he added.
The Congress suffered a setback in Karnataka, losing all the four seats with the opposition JD(S) wresting one segment from the ruling party and its ally BJP retaining three.
The Congress and several other opposition parties have been demanding that all future elections be held using ballot papers and not the EVM. (Source: PTI)
