Digvijaya blames EVMs as Congress loses 'impossible to lose' MP bypoll seats; irks Shivraj

With the BJP having won one seat and leading on 19 out of the 28 bypoll seats in Madhya Pradesh, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday once again raised the EVM bogey, claiming they're not tamper-proof and that "selective tampering is done." Speaking to reporters, the Rajya Sabha MP said, "There are seats that we would have not lost in any circumstance but we did by thousands of votes. We'll hold a meeting tomorrow and analyse the results.

'Digvijaya Singh never accepts the truth'

Responding to him, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "Last time when his (Digvijaya Singh) party won 114 seats in the elections, then there was no issue in EVM? He never accepts the truth. He can only make excuses for the defeat of his party.

BJP Minister Narottam Mishra also said, "BJP has nothing to lose. You should ask people who are losing. We will only gain from here onwards. I heard Digvijaya Singh's statement. If he's questioning EVMs, it means that the BJP is winning." Digvijaya Singh has been questioning the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) since a while now. 

Earlier in a press conference, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain also clarified again that EVMs are "robust and tamper-proof" "Supreme Court upheld the integrity of EVMs more than once. Election Commission had also offered EVM challenge in 2017. Integrity of EVMs is without any doubt and merits no further clarification," he said.

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Scindia congratulates winning candidates

As BJP took a lead in the bypolls, Jyotiraditya Scindia congratulated all the winning candidates and thanked the voters as well. "Heartiest congratulations to all the candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party who won the MP Assembly by-elections. At the same time, heartfelt gratitude to all the devout voters. I am confident that all the winning candidates will always be ready for public service and proper development of their constituency," Scindia said in a tweet in Hindi.

The result of 28 assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh will decide the fate of Chief Minister Chouhan led-BJP government, which requires at least eight more MLAs for a clear majority in the state assembly.

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