Cong, AAP should introspect defeat in DUSU rather than blaming EVMs: Delhi BJP

The Delhi BJP asked the AAP and the Congress Friday to introspect the loss of their student wing candidates in the Delhi University Students' Union elections rather than blaming the EVMs for it.

After the ABPV won three key posts, including that of the president, in the polls Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress held electronic voting machines (EVMs) responsible for their defeat.

Delhi Chief Minister and national convenor of AAP Arvind Kejriwal questioned whether the EVMs can be procured privately.

The Election Commission said Friday the EVMs used during the Delhi University elections were not provided by it. It also said the electronic voting machines used by it for Lok Sabha and assembly polls were different from the ones used in the university students' elections.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi had on Thursday clarified that the voting machines used in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections were not issued by the Election Commission and it seems to have been procured privately.

"From where can u procure EVMs privately? Doesn't ECI claim that no one can manufacture or buy or sell EVMs privately? Isn't anyone found in possession of EVMs without EC's permission guilty of criminal offence? (sic)" Kejriwal tweeted Friday.

Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken in a press conference demanded repolling for the DUSU alleging "tampering" of EVMs in the elections. Maken said the party was also considering legal options to get the polls countermanded after the Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI) bagged just one of the four posts in the polls.

Taking a dig at both the parties, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said, "Blaming EVMs is not a new phenomenon. It has become a practice to blame defeat in elections on the machines".

"The Congress and the AAP should introspect and find the cause of defeat rather than blaming the EVMs".

He said Maken has demanded repolling, questioning the entire system for a "small technical snag" out of "frustration" over defeat of the NSUI.

"Kejriwal has questioned the procurement of these machines by the Delhi University. He has overlooked the fact that these machines are manufactured and serviced by the Hyderabad-based government undertaking ECIL and provided by the Delhi Election Office as per usual practice," he claimed.

An alliance of the AAP's CYSS and left-backed AISA failed to open account in the DUSU polls.