EC is Dhritrashtra, BJP Duryodhana: Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday called the Election Commission “Dhritrashtra” which will do anything to help BJP, which he termed “Duryodhana”, win the elections.
Continuing his attack over the alleged manipulation of electronic voting machines, Kejriwal said the Election Commission’s only intention was “to bring the BJP to power in pollbound states” and that is why it was not paying heed to his request to investigate faulty EVMs.
The AAP leader’s statement comes a day after media reports that a few machines, used during the bypoll in Rajasthan’s Dholpur, may have been “tampered with”.
Accusing the Election Commission of “overlooking” complaints of alleged EVM manipulation, Kejriwal linked the Commission to Mahabharata’s Dhritarashtra.
“As Dhritrashtra helped his son Duryodhana grab power, the Election Commission is similarly helping the BJP by using all means possible (Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed),” he said.
On Sunday, the Election Commission had said that EVMs are robust and tamperproof and even the manufacturers cannot manipulate them at the time of production, countering allegations that the machines are unreliable.
Addressing a press conference at his official residence on Monday, Kejriwal alleged that both the Election Commission and the BJP are “playing with democracy”, which the people of country will not tolerate.
“Stop conducting elections when EVMs can be manipulated. What is the meaning of elections then?” Kejriwal asked.
Referring to Rajasthan’s Dholpur bypolls, the Aam Aadmi Party chief said, “Why do defective EVMs vote in favour of the BJP all the time? Why faulty machines do not vote in favour of other political parties? It means the software of EVMs has been changed.”
He claimed that in the April 23 MCD elections, “faulty EVMs are being brought from Rajasthan to conduct the civic body polls”.
“There are three generations of EVMs. First were used before 2006 while the second generation EVMs were used between 2006 and 2013 and third generation EVMs are being used after 2013,” the AAP national convener said.
“When 15,000 EVMs of the second generation are available in Delhi, then why the first generation EVMs, which would have been used before 2006, will be used in the upcoming MCD polls,” the Delhi chief minister said.