Kamal Nath raises questions on MP poll verdict says "Some MLAs say they got 50 votes in their own village, how is this possible"

Dec 05, 2023

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], December 5 : The Congress leadership in Madhya Pradesh continues to question the verdict of the state assembly polls. former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath today claimed that some MLAs met him on Tuesday morning and said that they (MLAs) got just 50 votes in their own villages, how was this possible?
Nath made the remark while speaking to the reporters in the state capital Bhopal on Tuesday ahead of the review meeting of Congress candidates for poor show in the assembly polls.
The Congress leader said, "Everyone knows what the atmosphere was in the state. Some MLAs met me today in the morning and said that they got 50 votes in their own villages, how is this possible?"
Reacting to the exit poll results, Nath claimed that it was to create an atmosphere.
"The exit poll was to create an atmosphere. The one who knew the result in advance might have prepared the exit polls," he added.
Notbaly, most exit-poll projections put the BJP in the lead, with the Congress was seen to be coming up short and not cashing in on the 'anti-incumbency' as they had hoped to. Some exit polls, however, gave an advantage to the Congress party.
Meanwhile, speaking about the election mandate, Nath said, "We are holding discussions with the elected and non-elected candidates and analysing the result."
Earlier another Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also raised questions on the verdict claiming that the EVMs could have been hacked.
"Any Machine with a Chip can be hacked. I have opposed voting by EVM since 2003. Can we allow our Indian Democracy to be controlled by Professional Hackers ? This is the Fundamental Question which all Political Parties have to address to. Hon ECI and Hon Supreme Court would you please defend our Indian Democracy? " Digvijya Singh alleged in a post on X.
Madhya Pradesh went to poll for 230 assembly seats in a single phase on November 17 and its result was declared on Sunday along with three other states. The Congress party stood at the second position by winning just 66 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a comprehensive victory in the state by winning 163 seats.
During the last 2018 state assembly elections, the Congress party stood first by winning 114 seats while the BJP came second and managed to win 109 seats.
The Congress came to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister but a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020 after then-Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the saffron camp.
The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government in the state.
Madhya Pradesh has been a BJP stronghold for the last twenty years, barring the 15-month tenure of the Kamal Nath-led government when Congress came to power in 2018.