Opposition raising EVM issue unnecessarily: NDA

Opposition parties had raised doubts on the EVMS "unnecesarily" and the act was out of "desperation" of losing the election, NDA leaders said on Tuesday after their meeting ahead of counting of votes on May 23.

"We expressed concern over the opposition raising unnecessary doubts on the EVMs and the integrity of the Election Commission. Especially, when the Supreme Court has given its judgements," Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh told reporters.

He said the Opposition was trying to create hurdles in the Indian election system, which can be "a global brand".

Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan said the opposition knew that they were losing the elections.

"They want an excuse. Why did they not blame EVMs when they won three states. Why not when they won Punjab," he said.

Paswan also said that the official results would be better than the exit polls, which showed the the NDA winning over 300 seats.

A total of 36 constituent parties of the National Democratic Alliance had participated in the meeting while three could not.

Besides the BJP, the AIADMK, the Shiv Sena, the Janata Dal-United), the Lok Janshakti Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Apna Dal (Sonelal), and the PMK were among the parties that attended the meeting.

Other parties present included the Sikkim Democratic Front, the Republican Party of India-A, the Bodoland People's Front, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, the All India N.R. Congress, the National People's Party, the Goa Forward Party, the All Jharkhand Students Union, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura, the DMDK, the Bharath Dharmajana Sena, the Kerala Congress-Thomas, the Asom Gana Parishad, the Nishad Party, the Naga People's Front and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

--IANS

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