BJP rigging EVMs to win elections: Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena today accused its estranged ally BJP of rigging EVMs to win elections and claimed that people do not trust the current method of polling anymore.

The recovery of "fake" voter ID cards in Bengaluru show how the electoral process in Karnataka has touched a new low, the Sena said.

The southern state goes to polls tomorrow and the results will be declared on May 15.

"(PM Narendra) Modi talks about 'Congress-mukt Bharat'. But although the Congress is coming to an end, its thoughts are not dying. The BJP is trying to finish the Congress by imbibing the qualities of that party," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouth piece 'Saamana'.

"Ahead of the Karnataka elections, 10,000 fake voter ID cards were recovered from a flat in Bengaluru. The Congress has targeted the BJP on the issue. This voter ID scam shows that the Karnataka election has touched a new low," the party said.

"A large sum of money is being used in the elections. From where the BJP gets so much money is no more a secret as everyone knows the truth.

"Money starts flowing ahead of any election, be it gram panchayat or Lok Sabha...It seems as if notes are being printed by 'Mudra Bank' in every house...The Congress used to indulge in this, which the BJP is now doing," the Sena alleged.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of copying his party's manifesto in the Karnataka polls, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

"In short, the BJP has adopted the Congress' policy of winning elections by hook or crook.

The Congress must be feeling proud that the BJP is taking its ideology forward," it said.

The Sena alleged that the Congress had also indulged in malpractices during its rule.

"When former prime minister Indira Gandhi won a massive mandate, the late Sena supremo (Bal Thackeray) had questioned her win, saying it was not the victory of 'bai' (Indira), but that of 'shai' (ink)," it said.

"The ink rule is now over, but the BJP is rigging EVMs to win elections. People don't trust the current method of polling any more," it said.

"Only the masks of those sitting in power have changed, but the faces behind these masks are the same. The BJP has not defeated the Congress, but has merged it within itself," the Sena alleged.