Democracy being disreputed because of Election Commission's "sycophancy": Congress' Bhai Jagtap

"I will not apologise at all, not even a bit...If they are working under pressure from the PM and other ministers then what I have said is right," he said.

Congress leader Bhai Jagtap doubled down on his derogatory remarks against the Election Commission of India amid the row over the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and said that the country's democracy has been "disreputed" because of ECI's "sycophancy." He also refused to apologise over his objectionable "kutta" remark for the Election Commission.

"I will not apologise at all, not even a bit...If they are working under pressure from the PM and other ministers then what I have said is right. I will not apologise...Election Commission exists to further strengthen the democracy of the country, and not to serve someone. I stand by what I said. The Election Commission should work like TN Seshan...Democracy is being disreputed because of the sycophant attitude of EC," he said. He further said that Congress brought the EVM technology because it was being used in France, and the US, but after 2009, doubts started arising over its use.

Jagtap further said, "Ours is the biggest democracy in the world. If any such doubt is raised, it should be answered. Several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court on this. A decision on the same was pronounced in April 2024. It was said that VVPAT slips should be counted, if you do not want Ballot paper. The petition stated that 50 per cent of the VVPATs should counted but Supreme Court said that it should be 5 percent but it wasn't done." "PM of the country had spoken about ballot paper when he was the CM of Gujarat. So, what happened now? Lal Krishna Advani had also said the same...They are saying that we are raising this issue because we have lost (election in Maharashtra) but you too were saying the same then. Investigate it once. If this is faulty, replace it - that is what we are saying. Bring the system that people feel is right. I see my own ballot paper, stamp it, fold it and deposit it. So, there is no question of tampering," he further said.

Earlier in the day, accusing the EC of tampering with voter data in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections, state Congress chief Nana Patole wrote to the ECI seeking to know how voter turnout increased by 7.83 percentage points after the official polling time had ended. Raising questions over EVMs, Patole, in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, said that public "sentiment" has become "extremely intense" as there is a huge "scam" in the percentage of votes in the Assembly elections.

"Doubts are being raised from many levels on the 7.83 per cent increase in votes. Looking at the vote figures announced by the Election Commission, there must have been long queues at the polling stations after 5 pm on the day of voting. In how many constituencies in the state were there long queues of voters after 5 pm?" Patole stated in his letter to the apex poll body. (ANI)

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