Congress suspects electoral malpractice by BJP in Gujarat

The Congress suspects that the BJP would resort to "unfair means" in Gujarat Assembly election. The party has demanded verification of all electronic voting machines (EVMs) to be deployed in the state, by a judicial commission.
 
The Congress also alleged that the BJP was on a "shopping spree", offering huge amounts of money to leaders from the Opposition camp to switch sides in the keenly contested polls.
 
"The BJP is out on a shopping spree with endless bags of money. This shopping is not need-based. Anyone who is available is made an offer," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.
 
He said the BJP made offers to Patidar leaders Hardik Patel and Narendra Patel.
 
"I am not bikau (for sale). Otherwise, I would have accepted an offer of Rs 1,200 crore from K Kailashnathan when I was in jail," Hardik Patel had said on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
 
Singhvi said Kailashnathan was the chief principal secretary to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, and demanded a probe into the matter.
 
Singhvi said there were reports of EVMs malfunctioning in the local body elections in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and alleged that similar tactics could be used in Gujarat by the BJP.
 
Earlier this week, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had dismissed Congress' allegations. "The issue of faulty EVMs is raised only when the Congress loses elections," he had said.