The Bharatiya Janata Party has hit out at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar for raising doubts about the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in an interview with a regional news channel.
Responding to Pawar’s statement, revenue minister and senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil claimed not a single member of the Pawar family would be elected to the Lok Sabha this time. To which, Pawar responded that people would lose faith in the electoral process if the BJP’s prophecy of adding Baramati to its seat haul came true.
Patil claimed Pawar’s remarks on EVMs showed that the NCP leader has anticipated defeat in the crucial Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, the stronghold of the Pawar clan. Expressing confidence that the BJP would win not just Baramati but also other western Maharashtra constituencies such as Madha, Hatkanangale and Satara, Patil said it was only a question of counting the victory margins now.
“If 200 members of Parliament from the opposition, including the Congress, NCP and their allies, are elected, then there is no EVM tampering. But if the BJP is re-elected, Pawar thinks EVMs have been manipulated. What sort of logic is this?” remarked Patil, who is BJP’s election in-charge for western Maharashtra.