HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar reels out data in Rajya Sabha to counter questions over EVMs

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New Delhi: With some parties raising questions over EVMs, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday sought to counter the Opposition contention by citing comparative data on votes polled in the elections.

Intervening in a debate on electoral reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he said the BSP had got 19.77 per cent votes during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and 22.2 per cent in 2017 assembly elections.

The SP got 22.35 per cent and 21.8 per cent votes in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the recent assembly elections, respectively, Javadekar said.

The Congress had polled 7.5 per cent votes during the Lok Sabha elections and 6 per cent during the assembly elections, he said quoting Election Commission data.

He said the SP which fought the 2017 elections in alliance with Congress got about 28 per cent votes.

"The BJP got 40 per cent votes. There is a difference of 12 per cent (in comparison to SP-Congress) and when there is a difference of 12 per cent, then (the BJP bagged) 325 seats," he said.

He further said in Punjab assembly, where the Congress won the elections defeating SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress got 12 per cent more votes than the rival coalition.

Similarly in the Uttarakhand elections, Javadekar said, the BJP got 13 per cent votes more than the Congress and hence the result was heavily in favour of the saffron party.

"My simple point is that we are all seasoned politicians. We all work hard to reach here (in Parliament). We should not be hiding from the reality. If we hide from the reality, we will go further away from the public," he said.

The minister also cited the comparative data of results in the Goa assembly elections.

The Minister further said he had never doubted the EVMs even if the BJP lost elections and believes in mathematics and science.

"We should not take the huge mandate lightly... Disrespect of manadate is disrespect of democracy," Javadekar said.