EVMs are manipulated….Says BJP MLA Bakshish Singh Virk
ANUP SINHA
NEW DELHI : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday called MLA Bakshish Singh Virk “the most honest man in the BJP” after he was caught on video saying that no matter what button the voters pressed, every vote would go to his party.
Gandhi posted the video with the caption “the most honest man in the BJP”. The video shows Virk addressing a public meeting in Assandh in Haryana.
The BJP MLA is heard saying, “Whoever you vote for, we will get to know. Don’t think we won’t know. We deliberately don’t tell you, but if we want, we can find out. Because Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is intelligent. Manoharlal (Chief Minister ML Khattar) is intelligent.”
He is further heard admitting that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are rigged saying, “”You may vote for whoever you want, your vote will go to the kamal (lotus, BJP’s poll symbol) only. Press any button, the vote will go to BJP. We have fixed a purja (part) in the EVM machines.” The audience laughs at this statement.
The Election Commission (EC) issued a show-cause notice to Virk, also appointing a special observer to the constituency for corrective action. Virk, however, denied having made the claims, and claimed that the video was fake and a conspiracy by his rivals to defame him and his party.
The “most honest man in the BJP”, Rahul Gandhi tweeted on MLA Bakshish Singh Virk, who has been served notice by the Election Commission for his controversial comment.
As voting took place in Haryana for assembly elections, the former Congress president tweeted his jibe along with a video of Mr Virk speaking at a public meeting in Haryana’s Assandh constituency, where he is contesting.
“Whoever you vote for, we will get to know. Don’t think we won’t know. We deliberately don’t tell you, but if we want, we can find out. Because Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is intelligent. Manoharlal (Chief Minister ML Khattar) is intelligent,” the politician is heard saying in Punjabi in a video widely circulated online. The video appeared to have been taken recently during his campaign.
After devoting much of his speech to what appears to be a warning, Mr Virk apparently resorts to claiming that the EVMs are manipulated. “You may vote for whoever you want, your vote will go to the kamal (lotus, BJP’s poll symbol) only. Press any button, the vote will go to BJP. We have fixed a purza (part) in the EVM machines,” the MLA declares, getting many laughs from his audience.(With Agency Inputs ).
