Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia slams opposition over EVM allegations

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia lashed out at the Opposition for raising doubts about Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), asserting that those unwilling to acknowledge their shortcomings cannot be helped.

He further said that it's become a habit for the opposition to blame someone else for their losses. "It is good if you win but if you lose, you blame it on someone else. How long will this go on? Who can help those who do not want to recognise themselves, those who do not want to see their own shortcomings?" the Union Minister said on Friday.

The Union Minister's remarks come amid a row sparked by Congress leader Bhai Jagtap's derogatory comments about the Election Commission of India (ECI) and its use of EVMs. Jagtap refused to apologise for his objectionable "kutta" remark directed at the ECI, accusing it of undermining democracy through "sycophancy."


He also refused to apologise over his objectionable "kutta" remark for the Election Commission. "I will not apologise at all, not even a bit...If they are working under pressure from the PM and other ministers then what I have said is right. I will not apologise...Election Commission exists to further strengthen the democracy of the country, and not to serve someone. I stand by what I said. The Election Commission should work like TN Seshan...Democracy is being disreputed because of the sycophant attitude of EC," he said.

Jagtap added that while Congress introduced EVM technology in India based on its use in countries like France and the US, doubts over its credibility began to emerge after 2009.

Jagtap further said, "Ours is the biggest democracy in the world. If any such doubt is raised, it should be answered. Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court on this. A decision on the same was pronounced in April 2024. It was said that VVPAT slips should be counted, if you do not want Ballot paper. The petition stated that 50 per cent of the VVPATs should counted but the Supreme Court said that it should be 5 per cent but it wasn't done."

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole accused the Election Commission of tampering with voter data during the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections. He wrote to the ECI, questioning how voter turnout increased by 7.83 percentage points after the official polling time had ended.

Raising questions over EVMs, Patole, in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, said that public "sentiment" has become "extremely intense" as there is an alleged huge "scam" in the percentage of votes in the Assembly elections.

Raising questions over EVMs, Patole, in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, said that public "sentiment" has become "extremely intense" due to an alleged "huge scam" in the percentage of votes in the Assembly elections.

"Doubts are being raised from many levels on the 7.83 per cent increase in votes. Looking at the vote figures announced by the Election Commission, there must have been long queues at the polling stations after 5 pm on the day of voting. In how many constituencies in the state were there long queues of voters after 5 pm?" Patole stated in his letter to the apex poll body.