Jaitley says EVM-tampering allegations are 'excuses for defeat'

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday tore into the Opposition parties which have, time and again, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of tampering with the Electric Voting Machines (EVMs), saying they were making excuses for their defeat.

"While the BJP has maintained its credibility, the Congress is slowly becoming extinct. The results haven't been out yet and they have already started making excuses for their defeat," the senior BJP leader said, while addressing a press conference here.

In the wake of the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat, national general secretary of Congress, Mohan Prakash, had reportedly said the BJP would lose in Gujarat, if the elections were carried out in a fair manner, that is, without the use of EVMs.

Earlier today, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the BJP tampered with the EVMs in the UP civil body polls.

"If the BJP is honest and believes in democracy then they should discard the EVMs and conduct voting on ballot papers. The general elections are due in 2019. If the BJP believes people are with them, they must implement it. I can guarantee if ballot papers are used, the BJP won't come to power," Mayawati said.

The BJP secured a massive victory in the civic polls in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

The BSP won the mayoral posts in Aligarh and Meerut. Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party failed to win a single mayoral seat.

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan said there was no tampering but a 'setting' in the civic polls.

"The BJP won wherever the EVMs were used, and the SP won wherever ballot papers were used," Khan said, alluding to the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls earlier this year.

The two-phase Gujarat assembly elections will take place on December 9 and 14, while the results will be out on December 18.