Maharashtra: Opposition should accept its defeat and introspect instead of pointing fingers at EVMs, says Chandrashekhar Bawankule

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule. File Pic

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said instead of raising question marks over the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the opposition parties should accept their defeat in the state assembly polls and introspect, reported news agency PTI.

Talking to reporters in Nagpur, he also accused the opposition of speaking lies over the issue of EVMs.

Responding to a query on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies alleging manipulation of EVMs, Bawankule asked why they did not raise a question mark over these machines when they performed well in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra earlier this year.

"The Congress also won the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll. So was the EVM proper in Nanded?" he asked, reported PTI.

"All these are just lies...They should accept their defeat and introspect. We introspected after losing the Lok Sabha elections (in Maharashtra) and moved ahead. We worked at the booth level and met people. This time (in the assembly polls), our vote percentage increased," he said, reported PTI.

The MVA, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, won 30 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections, and one Congress rebel later extended support to the alliance. In the assembly elections held on November 20, the ruling Mahayuti of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP won a whopping 230 seats, while the MVA managed to get only 46 in the 288-member House.

Bawankule's remarks on the EVMs come a day after the Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to revert to paper ballot voting in elections in the country. The apex court said that allegations of tampering with EVMs raked up only when people lose polls.

"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs are not tampered with. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale on Tuesday, reported PTI.

On a query over finalising the name of the chief minister in Maharashtra, Bawankule said, "In the alliance government, such things take time as many factors like the ministerial post, portfolios and guardian ministership have to be taken into account and decided," reported PTI.

The MVA candidates who faced defeat in the Maharashtra assembly elections have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, a leader of the opposition alliance said, reported PTI.

Many losing candidates of the Shiv Sena (UBT) pointed fingers at the functioning of the EVMs during their interaction with party head Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday.

(With inputs from PTI)