Mathura (UP): Union minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said opposition parties are questioning the reliability of electronic voting machines as they are fearing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing an election meeting at Chaumuha town here in favour of BJP candidate Hema Malini, he said, “The way after the polling of 91 seats, opposition parties are questioning the reliability of EVMs, it is clear that they have virtually accepted their defeat.” Persisting with their doubts over the credibility of EVMs, several opposition parties have said they will move the Supreme Court to seek verification of at least 50 per cent of the polled votes against VVAPT slips.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Samajwadi Party, CPI and CPI(M), also jointly addressed a press conference to highlight the issue of transparency in the election process and protection of voter rights and gave a call to “save democracy”. Exuding confidence that the Narendra Modi government will come back to power, the Union home minister said the NDA will make the National Security Act (NSA) more robust and check its misuse if voted to power again.
He also mentioned the Pulwama terror attack and the Centre’s befitting reply to the same. “I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for eliminating terror centres through surgical strike,” Singh said. The senior BJP leader also hit out at the Congress over its response to the IAF air strikes in Balakot. “Atal Bihari Vajpayee had congratulated then PM Indira Gandhi after the 1971 India-Pakistan war for her bold step, but the Congress today is acting otherwise,” he said.
Singh also took a dig at the BSP-SP opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, saying the parties entered into a ‘Mahagathabandhan’ as they are afraid of the ‘Modi wave’. Underlining the ‘progress’ made by the country under Modi, he said, in 2014, India was placed at ninth position among the world’s 10 developing countries. The leadership of Modi catapulted the country to sixth position, he said.
The home minister added, “Indira Gandhi se lekar, Rajiv Gandhi aur ab Rahul Gandhi ne garibi ko mudda banaya hai. Jis din Bharat Congress mukt ho jayega, garibi swayam hat jayegi.” The statement can be loosely translated to “From Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi to now Rahul Gandhi, they have all made poverty a poll slogan. The day India will get rid of Congress, poverty will be automatically eliminated from the country”. He said farmers will be provided interest-free loans for five years if BJP comes to power again.
