Bihar saw ‘North Korea-style’ polls, claims Digvijaya Singh

Guna (MP), Nov 15 (PTI) Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday claimed that the Bihar assembly election results were similar to the polls held in North Korea, Russia and China, where “all votes go to one party”.

The BJP-led NDA decimated the Mahagathbandhan, an alliance of Congress, RJD and other parties, in the Bihar elections, winning over 200 seats in the 243-member House. The Congress won only six seats.

“Sixty-two lakh names were deleted, and 20 lakh names were added. The Election Commission (EC) has not clarified whose names were removed and whose were added.

“The results that have come resemble elections in North Korea, China and Russia, where all votes go to one party,” the Rajya Sabha member told reporters at Awan village, about 40 km from the Guna district headquarters in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh said it is one’s right to know whether the vote he cast went to the intended candidate.

“The counting of my vote should happen. I should get a receipt showing where my vote has gone. Wherever EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) are used in the world, a receipt is given after pressing the button. It is the EC’s responsibility that people should have trust in the EVM,” he said.

Asked whether the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’, giving Rs 10,000 each to women entrepreneurs, became a factor in Bihar polls, the Congress leader said, “Whose money is that? It is the people’s money. You take money from the people with one hand and give it back with the other.” Responding to a question concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral lists, Singh said the onus of adding names to the electoral roll lies with the EC.

“It should ensure that the form is filled. Now they are saying you fill the form, bring your father’s birth certificate, bring your grandfather’s birth certificate. Someone who has not passed matriculation, where will he get a matriculation certificate from,” he asked.

He also accused the EC of making the process complicated.

“Your passport is made with Aadhaar, and you can open a bank account with Aadhaar. Then why is Aadhaar not being used here? The Supreme Court has already said so. They have listed 11 documents but not included Aadhaar,” he said. PTI COR LAL NR