Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Slams Congress For Raising Doubts Over EVMs

Hitting out at the Congress for raising doubts over the use of Electronic Voting Machines in the Lok Sabha polls, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said the grand old party is showing "arrogance" instead of introspecting the defeat in the elections.

"The EVM vilaap mandli has become active again and while earlier they demanded tallying of VVPAT slips with EVM count, they are now looking for new excuses after there was no mismatch," the minority affairs minister said.

The Congress is showing arrogance of a "feudal mindset", instead of introspecting the defeat in the Lok Sabha election and honouring people's mandate, he told reporters in Delhi.

The Congress will continue with its arrogance and negativity until it realises the ground reality, he said.

The grand old party has become a "brand new flop show" due to its "negative and frustrated politics", he claimed.

If the Congress does not shun its "feudal politics", the party will face extinction, Mr Naqvi said.

His remarks came days after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, apparently hinting at electronic voting machines (EVMs), claimed "many types of doubts" have emerged in the past few years over the country''s electoral processes.

"There is a saying that there is no smoke without fire," she said in Raebareli on Wednesday.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, had alleged that EVMS can be tampered with, giving the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party the advantage in an election.