Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Tuesday expressed his surprise over the results of the Madhya Pradesh assembly election, claiming that some former MLAs complained to him that they did not get even 50 votes in their villages.
"We are holding discussions with the elected and non-elected MLAs and analysing the result. Some MLAs have met me, and one of them told me that he got only 50 votes in his own village. How is this possible?... Exit polls are done only to create an atmosphere," Kamal Nath told reporters earlier.
Congress MP and a prominent leader from Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh, has also questioned the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
“Any machine with a chip can be hacked. I have opposed voting by EVM since 2003. Can we allow our Indian Democracy to be controlled by Professional Hackers! This is the Fundamental Question which all Political Parties have to address to. Hon ECI and Hon Supreme Court would you please defend our Indian Democracy?" he wrote in a post on X.
The remarks come two days after the BJP won the elections in three big states - Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The Congress had a lone victory in Telangana.
The BJP and Congress among other Opposition parties are engaged in a battle over the election results following Singh’s remarks, which were also backed by leaders from the parties including the National Conference and Shiv Sena (UBT).
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won 163 seats in the 230-member assembly and the Congress won 66 seats.
“The poll results are unexpected and surprising but we respect the democratic process. When the mandate goes against your party, one has to accept it. However, the results of Madhya Pradesh are not only surprising but also shocking for us. The poll results in three of four states should be considered as the EVM mandate and it has to be accepted in that way only,” Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut said earlier.
However, while asked if EVM was hacked, Kamal Nath said, “It would not be right to conclude without holding discussions. I will talk to everyone first,” reports NDTV.
Nath has been asked to step down as Madhya Pradesh Congress chief after the disappointing result, sources have said.