'Changing stand after becoming CM': Congress hits back at Omar after he defends EVMs

The Congress on Monday (December 16) hit back at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after he found fault with the grand old party for blaming the EVMs for its loss in Maharashtra and elsewhere.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore pointed out that the allegations about the EVMs had been made by Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and the Samajwadi Party too.

Tells Omar to check his facts

"It's the Samajwadi Party, NCP and Shiv Sena UBT that have spoken against EVMs. Please check your facts, CM @OmarAbdullah,” Tagore wrote on X. “The Congress CWC resolution clearly addresses the ECI only. Why this approach to our partners after being CM?"

Also watch: J&K CM Omar Abdullah rejects Congress' objection to EVMs

Allegations against the EVMs resurfaced after the Congress and its allies were routed in the Maharashtra Assembly elections which were swept by the BJP and its allies.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has said the poor performance by the Congress and allies appeared to be a "clear case of targeted manipulation". It also raised questions over the "partisan functioning" of the Election Commission.

‘Must be consistent in questioning EVMs’

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, a Congress ally and now the J&K chief minister, said on Sunday that one must be consistent in questioning the EVMs which are used in elections across the country.

"When you get a hundred plus members of parliament using the same EVMs, and you celebrate, you can't then a few months later turn around and say... we don't like these EVMs because now the election results aren't going the way we would like them to," Abdullah said. He went on to say that the political parties which do not trust the voting method should not contest elections.

Also read: INDIA bloc to move SC over alleged EVM tampering in Maharashtra polls

The National Conference and the Congress contested the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir together.

While the National Conference secured a handsome win in the Kashmir Valley, the Congress suffered a huge defeat in Jammu region, winning just six seats. The Congress also failed to wrest power from the BJP in Haryana.

Abdullah cited his own example of how he lost the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir but led his party to a great victory in the Assembly polls in the same Union Territory. "One day voters choose you, the next day they don't. I never blamed the machines," he said.