Cyber expert's EVM hacking claims a 'hacking horror show' by Congress: BJP

Rejecting an India cyber expert's claim that the 2014 general election was rigged, the BJP Monday described this explosive allegation as a "hacking horror show organised" by the Congress, and said the opposition party has begun looking for an excuse for its likely defeat in the next Lok Sabha polls.

In a sharp attack on the Congress, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said its leader Kapil Sibal's presence at the press conference in London was not a coincidence. Naqvi alleged that top Congress leaders, including its president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, would have sent Sibal as their "postman".

"Electronic Voting Machines cannot be hacked. What is clear is that anti-India forces have hacked into the mind of Congress. What we have seen is a hacking horror show organised by the Congress ahead of its defeat in Lok Sabha polls. It is looking for an excuse for its impending loss," the BJP leader told reporters.

He said these allegations were part of an exercise to "defame" India and people will never accept such attempts.

The cyber expert, Syed Suja, claimed that the 2014 general election was "rigged" through the EVMs, which, he said, can be hacked.

He addressed a press conference in London via Skype. He was presented at a press conference organised by the Indian Journalists' Association (Europe).

The Election Commission and political parties were invited to be at the press meet but only Congress leader Sibal attended the event, Suja added.

To a question about the IJA organising it and not any political party, Naqvi said the Congress has "many freelancers" and they have presence even in Pakistan.

Naqvi said opposition leaders' attempts to discredit EVMs failed in India and they are now trying to do so abroad as there are forces there that want to defame the country and its election process.

He made a strong defence of EVMs, saying the Congress recently won polls in three states and other opposition parties have come to power in states like Bihar and West Bengal.

The Congress-led UPA was in power for 10 years, he said, noting that all these polls were held through EVMs.

Indian elections are so credible that representatives of foreign countries come here to study the polling process and praise it, Naqvi said.

The parties questioning EVMs have never been able to present any evidence before the Election Commission to back their claims, he said.

He also rejected as a "lie" Suja's allegation that Union minister Gopinath Munde was "killed" because he was aware of EVM hacking in 2014 general election.

Munde died in a road accident in New Delhi weeks after the BJP won the 2014 election.