Hitting back at BJP over Assam EVM machine theft, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the BJP should now be called the EVM ‘Chor’ (Thief ) party. While addressing a press conference, Surjewala said that people have ensured Congress’s victory with the huge majority that even stealing EVM machines will not help BJP win the polls.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being accused of allegedly looting EVMs in Assam. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were allegedly found in a car of BJP candidate Krishnendu Paul in Assam’s Karimganj district on Thursday night, hours after the state witnessed voting in 39 constituencies in the second phase of the assembly elections.
“The Election (EC) Commission’s car broke down and a BJP candidate Krishnendu Paul arrived with his car. The EC was transporting the EVMs in his car. In all of Assam, you (EC) only found the BJP candidate’s car?” Surjewala asked the polling body.
“But the EVMs were found inside Paul’s car, the BJP’s candidate from Patharkandi. The Election Commission should answer to the entire nation whether it will take any action against him,” the Congress spokesperson said while noting the re-polling order passed by the EC in the Ratbari assembly constituency.
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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and party leader Gaurav Gogoi also blamed the BJP for the entire controversy and asked the EC to take some stern decisive actions against the malpractice. Taking it to Twitter, Gandhi alleged that every time such an incident happens, the vehicle usually belongs to the BJP or its associates and the video recordings are "taken as one-off incidents and dismissed as aberrations".
The Election Commission has suspended four poll officials including the presiding officer and ordered a fresh poll at the Assam booth.