BJP dares Congress leaders to resign on EVM issue

New Delhi, Nov 30: 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 chief ministers, 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 then 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.”

The Congress will soon be confined to the pages of history books, he said.

Speaking on the incidents targeting Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, the BJP spokesperson noted the stand of the Indian government and expressed confidence that India’s strong voice cannot be ignored.

As the biggest democracy in the world, it is India’s duty to raise its voice when minorities are facing harassment anywhere, Bhatia claimed.

He also accused Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav of acting as a shield for rioters and alleged that the party’s members, including MPs, are involved in instigating violence rather than showing commitment to the restoration of peace.

Targeting the SP, he alleged that riots frequently broke out when it ruled the state and that the opposition party has no faith in the police.

The BJP’s reaction came after Yadav accused the BJP of orchestrating violence in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh where protesters who were opposing a court-ordered survey of a mosque clashed with police last Sunday.