Congress demands early counting of votes in Bastar region

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh unit of the Congress has demanded early counting of votes cast in 12 assembly seats of Maoist-affected Bastar region apprehending that the "voting machines are under threat."

"Looking at the huge voter turnout, the Raman Singh government is already worried. Whatever discussion is going on for 12 seats of Bastar indicates that electronic voting machines (EVMs) kept in the strong room are under threat," All India Congress Committee General Secretary Bhaktacharan Das said in a press release today, demanding that counting of votes be undertaken before the scheduled date of December 8.

"The ruling BJP is extremely disappointed and under pressure. This is evident from the fact that BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate is addressing five public meetings a day in a row here," he said.

He also claimed that Chief Minister Raman Singh had already lost elections in the Rajnandgaon constituency and the results would only substantiate this after votes are counted.

Accusing the ruling BJP, he said that the Chhattisgarh government is unable to provide clean drinking water in remote areas of Bastar and several other places, though its chief minister wastes crores of rupees on road shows in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, in the name of development.