AAP leaders divided over EVM manipulation stand
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) might be running a campaign against ‘faulty EVMs’ but its top leaders seem to be divided on the official line that tampering of voting machines is behind the party’s loss in the municipal elections.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia called EVM “manipulation” a “bitter truth” of the country’s democracy. But water minister Kapil Mishra said the blame can’t be pinned only on EVMs and the party needs to introspect and find the reasons behind its rout in the civic polls.
“It is a day for us to introspect. The issue of EVM tampering will go on but right now there is a need for us to look within as our results are not as they were in the 2015 assembly elections. The newly elected MCDs and the Delhi government must now work in tandem for the betterment of the people,” Mishra said.
AAP won two of the five municipal wards in the Karawal Nagar assembly constituency represented by Mishra, where he had camped all along the campaign.
Raising the spectre of an “EVM wave” across Delhi, deputy CM Sisodia said, “One can crack jokes on us initially, but fearing being made fun of, we cannot refrain from speaking the truth. AAP has been working here for the past two years now, we do have faults and we will solve them as well as usual. If the difference would have been of two-three seats then it was acceptable, but the result which has come is unbelievable. Without electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering, the BJP cannot win so many seats.”
The state election commission denied the charges and said EVMs cannot be hacked. “It is a robust machine. Don’t think there should be any question related to EVM. They worked well and we did not receive any complaints,” state election commissioner SK Shrivastava said.
Staring at a rout, the party got into a huddle at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to hammer out the next course of action, which may involve agitation over EVMs as already indicated by the chief minister.
Strangely though, Kejriwal in his official reaction to the results refrained from commenting on EVMs.
Sisodia said there is no reason why the public would choose the BJP again in Delhi. “The BJP is working for the past 10 years with the MCD. That party has done nothing but spread corruption, dengue, chikungunya and pollution. Despite that, the number of seats the BJP has got is not believable. We analyse the reason behind our defeat,” he said.
Senior minister Gopal Rai had also said the BJP’s win was because of an “EVM wave” and not “Modi wave”. “The same happened in UP and Uttarakhand. It is a major threat against democracy. The rights of the electorate will have to be ensured. The BJP wants to demolish democracy,” Rai said.