CONGRESS WAGES EVM WAR IN HOUSE
NEWDELHI: The Congress became the latest party to demand a ban on electronic voting machines (EVMs) on Wednesday, two days after Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal questioned the BJP’s election win in Uttar Pradesh, asking the Election Commission to release the devices for investigation into tampering allegations. During a heated debate in the Rajya Sabha over the use of EVMs, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “EVM should be stopped right now. In the upcoming civic polls of Delhi, assembly polls in Gujarat and other states EVMs should not be used.” The opposition parties had been vocal about alleged manipulations in the EVMs after the latest round of assembly elections. The BJP wrested Uttar Pradesh with a sweeping majority. The House was adjourned briefly amid protests.
The Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Agarwal said: “If there is a programming in the chip, the BJP will win.” BJP leaders Prakash Javadekar and Mukhtar Naqvi rejected the charges.
“There is no logic behind these allegations. EVMs were used in Bihar, in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls. When SP won in UP, the votes were casted in the same EVMs,” said Naqvi.
The EC has dismissed the allegations and said its systems were tamperproof. It asked the AAP to introspect on its poll performance in Punjab. BEIJING: China launched a diplomatic attack on India on Wednesday for “obstinately” arranging the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit to the “disputed region” of Arunachal Pradesh, demanding an immediate stop to his ongoing tour and summoning Indian ambassador VK Gokhale to lodge a protest.
“The visit will for sure trigger China’s dissatisfaction. This will not bring any benefit to India,” Hua Chunying, the ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, said. “The Chinese side will take necessary means to defend its territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests,” she added.
India on Wednesday reiterated that no political colour should be attributed to the Tibetan spiritual leader’s trip to the northeastern state.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay referred to a statement issued on Tuesday which said that “the Dalai Lama is a revered religious leader and has visited Arunachal earlier on half a dozen occasions”.
“We also urged that no political colour be ascribed to his religious and spiritual activities and to his visits to states of India, and no artificial controversy created around his ongoing visit,” he said, according to IANS.
For his part, the Dalai Lama said, “India has never used me against China. I am a messenger of the ancient Indian thought and I talk about ahimsa, peace, harmony and secular ethics wherever I go”.
He was talking to reporters in Arunachal’s Bomdila on the second day of his week-long visit.
It wasn’t immediately clear how China will target India for inviting the Tibetan leader to Arunachal.