Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh): Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee President Deepak Baij on Sunday raised doubts over EVM functioning after the party failed to win even one out of the 10 mayoral elections in the state.
“Complaints of EVMs getting hung, non-use of VVPAT machines with the EVMs and use of single EVM for mayoral and councillor election are some issues that raise doubts about manipulation,” Baij told IANS.
Raising doubts over the results of the civic elections, Baij said there were complaints of EVM malfunction even during the Assembly elections which were won by the BJP.
“Initially, there was an attempt to delay the civic polls and later there was an attempt to conduct the elections using ballot paper. Finally, they used EVMs which we doubt were manipulated,” said Baij.
EVMs are under the scanner of all parties and intellectuals. Even the Supreme Court has said that voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines are essential, he said.
Soon after the BJP swept the civic polls on Saturday, BJP National President J.P. Nadda and Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai called it a historic mandate in favour of ‘Modi ki Guarantee’.
Addressing media persons, CM Sai said, “The BJP has achieved a historic victory in the municipal elections, with the people of Chhattisgarh trusting the party. Voters have expressed their confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership.”
The 10 mayoral elections won by the BJP are – Raipur (Mayor Meenal Choubey); Jagdalpur (Sanjay Pandey); Chirimiri (Ram Naresh Rai); Ambikapur (Manjusha Bhagat); Raigarh (Jeevardhan Chauhan); Korba (Sanju Devi Rajput); Bilaspur (Puja Vidhani); Dhamtari (Jagdish Ramu Rohra); Durg (Alka Baghmar) and Rajnandgaon (Madhusudan Yadav).
In Chhattisgarh, there are 10 municipal corporations, 49 municipal councils and 114 panchayats. Elections for the urban local bodies (ULBs) were held on February 11 with a turnout of 72.33 per cent.
In the results declared on Saturday, the BJP won all 10 mayoral elections, 35 out of 49 municipal councils and 81 out of 114 panchayats.
Interestingly, the Aam Aadmi Party managed to win one municipal council (Bodri in Bilaspur district). The BSP won in one panchayat.
