Oppn knows will lose, so EVMs villain: Modi

New Delhi, January 20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday came down heavily on the Opposition alliance, saying they have started making excuses for their inevitable defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by questioning EVMs.

The PM was interacting with booth-level BJP workers from the Lok Sabha constituencies of Hatkanangale, Kolhapur, Madha, Satara in Maharashtra and South Goa. “The EVMs are being made the villain,” Modi said.

His attack came in the wake of the Opposition parties’ renewed demand for scrapping Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and a return to ballot papers. 

Twenty-three political parties, including the Congress, came together for the “United India” rally at Kolkata’s historic Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday. Some leaders interacted with the media demanding scrapping of the EVM process.

The parties also decided to form a four-member committee comprising Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP), Abhishek Singhvi (Congress) and Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) to deal with the issue.

Modi said they have no faith in constitutional institutions and this was the reason why they were busy maligning these institutions. “It is obvious that every political party wants to win elections, but the major concern is that they take people for granted. They think people are fools. This is a dangerous game. It’s a matter of concern. 

“They do not even think before maligning constitutional institutions. They do not have faith in any of the institutions. For long, they ruined the country and today they are busy maligning our institutions,” he said. “The Opposition has ‘dhanshakti’ (money power), we have ‘janshakti’ (people’s power),” he added. — Agencies