Anything can be done with EVMs: BJP suspects foul play in Bengal bypolls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suspected foul play after it lost all the three seats in the bypolls held in West Bengal.

National Secretary and Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha said that the state machinery openly helped the ruling Trinamool Congress and that they will report this to the Election Commission.

Sinha told IANS, "Though the Election Commission monitors all the elections but the execution of bypolls is being done by the state. TMC can do anything to win the elections."

He even raised doubts about the EVMs. He said, "Anything can be done with the EVMs. You can't deny foul play of the ruling party in the counting."

Citing the reasons behind his suspicion, Sinha said, "During Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won the Kaliaganj and Kharagpur Sadar Assembly constituencies with huge margins whereas in Kaliaganj and Karimpur the party got more votes as compared to the 2016 Assembly elections. Still we lost in all the three seats? TMC has won the Kharagpur Sadar seat for the first time. These all things raise doubts. Everywhere, from media to the public, it was being said that the BJP will win the bypolls."

From Kaliaganj seat, TMC candidate Tapan Deb Sinha won against the BJP's Kamal Chandra Sarkar with a 2,414-vote margin, whereas from Karimpur TMC candidate Bimlendu Sinha Roy humbled his nearest rival, state BJP Vice President Jay Prakash Majumder by over 24,000 votes. TMC's Pradip Sarkar wrested Kharagpur Sadar seat from the BJP as he defeated Premchandra Jha of the saffron party by a comfortable margin of 20,788 votes.