Congress blames BJD of EVM tampering in Orissa

The Congress in Orissa on Wednesday reviewed possible reasons behind the party's dismal performance in Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state, even as some leaders alleged manipulation of electronic voting machines and misuse of government machinery.

Congress general secretary and Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met candidates of twin polls, state and district unit office-bearers and poll observers during which a section of leaders lamented non-implementation of President's Rule after BJD government won the trust vote in assembly by voice vote in a "controversial" manner.

A senior leader from western Orissa was understood to have blamed the leadership for not taking concrete steps for imposition of President's Rule after the trust vote in March and allowing Naveen Patnaik to remain in power during the election process, party sources said.

Maintaining that free and fair election would have taken place under Central rule, some Congress leaders accused the ruling BJD of manipulating EVMs, misusing government machinery and even poll officials, state Congress media cell chairman Kailash Acharya told reporters.

"It was felt that replacement of several EVMs at many places in a fraudulent manner and bogus voting led to defeat of a large number of Congress candidates," he said.

Some of the defeated candidates also spoke of weakness in party organisation, he said.

Azad, however, did not interact with media to brief about his meetings with the state party leaders as he held closed-door deliberations till late night.

A senior leader, who lost the Lok Sabha polls, was believed to have impressed upon Azad that failure to demand imposition of President's Rule in the state was a blunder on the part of party leadership, sources said.

Though it was a fit case for invoking Article 356 of the Constitution, little was done and BJD government which won the trust vote in a fraudulent manner by voice vote without proper recording was allowed to continue, they said adding "large scale irregularities were committed to ensure BJD's victory".

Many Congressmen claimed though there was no visible wave in favour of BJD, the party scored a landslide victory through rigging and manipulation of EVMs, Acharya said.

However, some of the leaders also attributed the poor show of the party to weak state leadership, organisational structure and mismanagement, sources said.