Introspect on policies, not EVMs: BJP leader tells TMC after defeat

BJP's Prakash Reddy advised the TMC to introspect on its policies rather than 'vote theft' after its Bengal defeat. He warned of a worse result if they don't change. TMC MP Dola Sen said the party is probing 'vote theft' for a SC case.

BJP leader Prakash Reddy on Tuesday said that the Trinamool Congress should most definitely introspect upon their defeat, but not in case of EVMs or vote theft, but in terms of why people voted against the TMC in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections. Speaking to ANI, he said that the TMC must change its policies or the party will face a greater defeat in the next elections.

Introspect on policies, not EVMs: BJP

"You are right, you must introspect yourself for your defeat, but not in case of EVMs or vote chori, but in terms of the mood of the people, why they did not vote for TMC and were against its rule. You must introspect on the policies during Mamata's rule. You always stay in the negative aspects and are not yet thinking positively. You must change your (TMC's) policies, work for the people, otherwise next time you will get a defeat worse than the current one. So introspect yourself. Yes, you have to introspect. You have to appoint a committee to introspect, but not this type of introspection. You have to introspect yourself in the interest of the people," he said.

TMC to probe 'vote theft', EVM issues

Earlier, TMC MP Dola Sen said the party is carrying out a fact-finding exercise on alleged "vote theft" by analysing vote losses and margins affected during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), while also questioning how EVMs reportedly retained over 90 per cent charge and why a recount was not allowed. She added that the party has already approached the Supreme Court on the matter and will submit the findings of the internal review to the party leadership.

Speaking to the reporters, Sen said, "We are conducting fact-finding on two fronts, first, to investigate 'Vote Chori' (vote theft) by examining how many votes we lost by, and the vote margins cancelled through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR); and second, to understand why the EVMs retained a charge of more than 90% and why a recount of the votes was not permitted."

"We have filed a case in the Supreme Court regarding all these matters, and we will provide all the feedback from this investigation to the party leadership," she further said.

BJP's Landslide Victory

This comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a landslide victory in West Bengal, winning 206 seats in the 294-member Assembly, a major shift in a state where it had secured 77 seats in the previous election. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had won 212 seats in the last Assembly polls, finished a distant second with 80 seats. (ANI)

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