‘Is EVM dead or alive?’: Modi’s swipe at Opposition after Lok Sabha elections, Congress says ‘collecting evidence…’

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi took a dig at the Opposition INDIA bloc on Thursday, June 7, accusing them of trying to undermine the Election Commission of India.

Regarding poll rigging allegations, Modi said the Opposition was attempting to ‘weaken’ the Election Commission of India. He wondered if the EVMs were ‘dead or alive’ now. 

Modi's remarks have prompted a sharp rebuttal from the Congress, with senior members insisting that they were ‘collecting evidence’ to support their claims. 

“When results were coming out on June 4, I was busy with work. Phone calls started coming in later. I asked someone, numbers are fine, tell me EVM zinda hai ki mar gaya (Is the EVM dead or alive),” Modi said during a meeting with newly elected NDA MPs in Parliament. 

Several Opposition leaders have levelled allegations of EVM tampering during the multi-week Lok Sabha Elections and alleged irregularities in counting.

“Definitely, we will answer. We are in the process of collecting a lot of evidence. We will collect the evidence and return to you,” said Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar.

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Modi claimed that the Opposition had been ‘constantly blaming EVMs’ before June 4 and remained “determined to make people lose faith in the democratic process of India”.

“I thought they would take out the funeral procession of the EVM. But by the evening of June 4, unko taale lag gaye. EVM ne unko chup kar diya (EVM silenced them). This is the strength of India's democracy, its fairness. I hope I won't get to hear about EVM for 5 years. Perhaps they will again harp about EVM when we go into 2029. The country will never forgive them,” he added.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said that there was no fight against EVMs. The lawmaker has repeatedly raised questions about the Electronic Voting Machines in the tallying of votes and claimed that his struggle concerning EVMs would persist.

“Had there been any problem in EVMs, Uttar Pradesh would not have produced such results. We have no fight with the EVMs. We advocate for the assurance that our votes are cast securely in our hands. We lack trust in the software utilised in EVMs,” Singh said.

(With inputs from agencies)