DUSU election 2018: Congress, AAP should introspect defeat rather than blaming EVMs, says BJP leader Vijender Gupta

New Delhi: The Delhi BJP asked the AAP and the Congress on Friday to introspect the loss of their student wing candidates in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections rather than blaming the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for it. [caption id=“attachment_4366357” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of BJP leader Vijender Gupta. News18[/caption] After the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABPV) won three key posts, including that of the president, in the polls on Thursday, the AAP and the Congress held 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 (EC) said on Friday that the EVMs used during the Delhi University elections were not provided by it. It also said the EVM 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 DUSU elections were not issued by the EC 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 on 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 re-polling, 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 Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) and left-backed All India Students’ Association (AISA) failed to open account in the DUSU polls.