Published 13:06 IST, November 10th 2020
Congress questions credibility of EVMs as Mahagathbandhan trails in early Bihar poll trend
Even as the counting of votes for the Bihar Assembly polls is underway, Congress leader Dr. Udit Raj on Tuesday cast aspersions on the reliability of the EVMs.
Even as the counting of votes for the Bihar Assembly polls is underway, Congress leader Dr. Udit Raj on Tuesday cast aspersions on the reliability of the EVMs. This comes amid Congress leading only in 21 out of the 70 seats on which it is contesting as of 12.34 pm. Overall, Mahagatbandhan candidates have taken a lead from 105 out of 243 constituencies. According to Raj, the hacking of the EVM cannot be ruled out as the country has the 'capability of controlling the direction of the mission towards Mars and Moon'.
Moreover, he contended that Donald Trump could not have lost in the US election if the EVMs were used. Incidentally, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a recent election rally had termed the EVM as "Modi Voting Machine". He stressed that the Mahagathbandhan would emerge victorious irrespective of the reliability of EVMs. Moreover, senior Congress MP Digvijaya Singh too had spoken out against the EVMs a day earlier alleging that they can be "hacked".
Bihar polls
The Bihar Assembly has a strength of 243 members out of which 38 seats are reserved for SC and two for ST. In the 2015 state polls, the Mahagathbandhan comprising RJD, JD(U) and Congress won a whopping majority with 178 seats under the leadership of Nitish Kumar. On the other hand, the BJP-led alliance won from only 58 constituencies. On July 26, 2017, Nitish Kumar stepped down as the CM citing irreconcilable differences with RJD over corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav and joined hands with its former ally BJP.
The Mahagatbandhan comprising RJD, Congress, CPI(M-L), CPI, and CPM is perceived as the principal challenger to the ruling NDA alliance consisting of BJP, JD(U), VIP, and HAM(S). Some of the other alliances in the fray include the 'Progressive Democratic Alliance' who has projected Jan Adhikar Party chief Pappu Yadav as the CM face and the 'United Democratic Secular Alliance' with former Upendra Kushwaha as the CM candidate.The 2020 election witnessed a voter turnout of 57.05% as against that of 56.66% in the 2015 polls.
As part of the counting day arrangements, the counting centres had been increased to 55 spread across 38 districts of the state for ensuring social distancing. Also, not more than 7 counting tables shall be allowed in each of the 414 counting halls. There is three-tier security for all the counting centres which includes the involvement of the Central paramilitary forces, the Bihar military police and the district armed police.
Updated 13:51 IST, November 10th 2020