Indian Polls

Hyderabad, May 23 (PTI) The CPI Thursday said BJP's poll narrative centred on nationalism worked for the party in a big way in the Lok Sabha elections.

"I think it looks like nationalism worked for them in northern states and Karnataka," CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy told PTI commenting on the Lok Sabha poll outcome.

"Nationalism worked (for the BJP)... points raised by opposition unemployment, price rise, and ommissions and commissions of the BJP did not stand before the nationalism, particularly northern states," he said.

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi led to divisions within the opposition, CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan said Thursday and asserted that the policies of the Congress scion opened the doors for Narendra Modi's victory.

Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP was set to return to power Thursday as it led in 292 seats while the Congress trailed far behind with 50, according to trends released by the Election Commission for all 542 seats that went to polls.

Mumbai, May 23 (PTI) Congress' Mumbai-North Lok Sabha seat candidate Urmila Matondkar on Thursday alleged that there was a mismatch in signatures on an electronic voting machine (EVM) form.

The actor, who was trailing against BJP's Gopal Shetty by over 1,45,991 votes, said a complaint was filed with the Election Commission in this connection.

"On the form of EVM 17C from Magathane, the signatures and the machine numbers are different. A complaint has been filed with the Election Commission," she said in a tweet.

Chennai, May 23 (PTI) The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu seemed to be on course to win a comfortable number of seats from the 22 Assembly segments where bypolls were held, signalling that K Palaniswami can breathe easy and continue in the saddle for another two years.

The party was leading in 10 of the 22 seats where polling was held in two phases-- on April 18 and May 19, according to the latest Election Commission data.

Kanpur: Rejecting the chance of tampering with the electronic voting machines, IIT Professor & Member, Technical Committee, Prof. Rajat Muna said that the EVM could not be tampered and this makes it the most safest machine for voting purpose. It can neither be connected with WiFi nor the Internet. 

After the year 2016 this machine was made available in ample numbers. The machine has been designed as such that linking with one another remains possible. 

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) A group of activists on Tuesday demanded the reversal of an Election Commission order about tallying the VVPAT slips after the counting of the EVMs.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, the civil society members stated that the counting of the electronic voting machines should commence only when the tallying of the verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips for the five sampled booths in each constituency are completed.

Bengaluru, May 22 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday met former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda as part of his efforts to mobilise opposition parties on the controversy over alleged manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Confabulating with Gowda for over an hour here late Tuesday night after a meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi on the EVM issue earlier in the day, Naidu said 23 parties were raising the issue and demanding transparency and accountability.

New Delhi, May 21; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Top opposition leaders met here on Tuesday, ahead of the Lok Sabha poll results on May 23, to discuss the possibility of a non-NDA alliance staking claim to government formation.

They will also move the Election Commission (EC) to press for their demand of tallying the paper trail of votes (VVPATs) with the electronic voting machine (EVM) figures.

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) Top opposition leaders will meet in the national capital Tuesday to discuss the possibility of a non-NDA alliance staking claim to government formation and also move the Election Commission to press for their demand of tallying paper trail of votes (VVPATs) with electronic voting machine (EVM) figures.

According to sources, leaders of opposition parties such as the Congress, TDP, Left parties, BSP, NCP and TMC will informally meet to discuss the way forward in case the NDA fails to get to the majority mark.

Srinagar, May 21 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said the silence of the Election Commission (EC) was worrying even after "evidence" had come to the fore that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls were being switched.

"Worrying that despite solid evidence about EVMs being switched, @ECISVEEP hasnt clarified any of these concerns. A farcical wave backed by dubious exit polls followed by manipulating EVMs is another Balakot in the making," she said in a tweet.