BJP fears EVM tampering, Congress says opposition looking for excuses

RAIPUR: A day after Bhanupratappur byelection that witnessed a high-voltage drama throughout the campaigning as well as on the polling day, the opposition BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress government of conspiring to tamper the EVMs by trying to divert attention by detaining BJP candidate Brahmanand Netam at 2.30 PM on polling day.
Jharkhand High Court had already ordered that no coercive action should be taken against Netam but the Jharkhand police, Kanker district collector and the superintendent of police committed a contempt of court in the matter, said leader BJP leaders and former ministers Brijmohan Agrawal and tribal leader Ramvichar Netam at a press conference here on Tuesday.
We are exploring legal options to move for contempt of court against Kanker district administration, police and Jharkhand police, said Agrawal.
Regarding overall 76% reservation bill passed by the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly on December 2 and the state forwarding it for governor's assent, Agrawal said that Congress thinks that it keeps the law in its pocket. The governor will take the decision as per the law, he added.
On the results of the Bhanupratappur by-poll, Agrawal and Netam said that the people have given their mandate in favour of the BJP. We have won the election as per our internal report, but we cannot rule out the possibility of EVM tampering by the state administrative machinery, they said while expressing apprehension over misuse of the administrative machinery.
Netam said that the Congress will be punished by the tribal communities for its conspiracy to malign the image of a tribal leader. Smelling a certain defeat in the byelection, Congress’ last resort was character assassination of BJP candidate, but it did not succeed, said Netam. He also accused Congress of misusing police and bureaucrats who were seen distributing liquor and money before the by-poll.
State Congress communication cell chief Sushil Anand Shukla hit back at BJP and alleged that the opposition is creating a plot before the counting of votes and looking for excuses. The BJP was nowhere even close to Congress in Bhanupratappur byelection and the party knows the results well.