Resign on EVM issue: BJP dares Congress leaders

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had on Tuesday demanded that EVMs be replaced with ballot papers after Maharashtra poll debacle. Pic/Twitter

The BJP on Saturday hit back at the Congress for questioning the electoral process, including EVM's integrity, saying its chief ministers and other elected representatives like Rahul Gandhi should first resign and announce that they will contest only after ballot papers are brought back.

Such a stand will underscore their trust in the issues being raised by them, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters, adding that their allegations will otherwise be nothing but empty words. The Congress should move the courts over the issue too, he said, while stressing that the Supreme Court has quite a few times endorsed the transparency of the electoral process and the integrity of Electoral Voting Machines.

Congress CMs, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should resign as they were elected through the same electoral process the Opposition party is questioning, Bhatia said. It was ironic that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioned EVMs on a day Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took oath as a Lok Sabha MP, he said.

Bhatia said that the VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) has a 100 per cent record in matching the votes cast on EVMs. He added, "You want elections on ballot papers. First of all, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Revanth Reddy and Siddaramaiah should resign. They should say they were elected through EVMs, which is full of scandals and that they will not take part in the electoral process till the ballot papers are introduced."

‘How can govt probe itself': Congress on Adani row

The Congress on Saturday took a swipe over the Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) statement that the Indian government is not part of the US probe into Adani Group in any manner, asking how can this government be part of a probe into itself. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India is yet to receive any communication for cooperation in the case.

Soon after the statement, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The MEA spokesperson says that the Indian Government is not part of the US probe into the Adani Group. He has simply stated the obvious. How can this Government be part of a probe into itself?"

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