Post poor show in MP's Vindhya, Cong plans vote pattern probe

The Congress will get experts to conduct a forensic examination of the voting pattern in Madhya Pradesh's Vindhya region, from where it won just six out of 30 seats in the recently concluded Assembly polls, as it has "suspicion" on the EVMs deployed there.

The Vindhya region comprises Rewa, Satna, Singrauli, Sidhi and Anuppur districts, comprising 30 seats, of which the Congress managed to win just six seats down from the 12 it won in the 2013 polls.

In the results announced on December 11, the Congress won 114 seats to the 230-member House, polls for which were held on November 28.

Among the prominent Congress leaders who lost the polls from the Vindhya region are Leader of Opposition in the previous Assembly Ajay Singh from Churhat and Rajendra Singh from Amarpatan.

Speaking to PTI, Chief Minister designate Kamal Nath said, "We are conducting forensic examination of the voting pattern in the Vindhya region. Once we get it, we will talk to the Election Commission. We still have suspicion on EVMs because of results in the Vindhya region."
Elaborating on the Congress' suspicions, Nath said, "I have initiated a forensic examination of the voting pattern in Vindhya area just like an exit poll. People from villages told me even this morning that they had voted for the Congress but EVMs gave different results."
In an apparent swipe at the former RBI chief, Nath said, "Those who speak while seated in air conditioned rooms won't understand the pain of farmers. The agrarian sector constitutes about 70 per cent of the state's financial sector."