Blood may spill on streets if results are manipulated, warns Upendra Kushwaha

RLSP chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday warned that blood may spill on the streets if attempts were made to manipulate Lok Sabha poll results in favour of the ruling NDA.

RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha. PTI Photo

PATNA: RLSP chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday warned that blood may spill on the streets if attempts were made to manipulate Lok Sabha poll results in favour of the ruling NDA. Elections to 542 seats of the 543-member Lok Sabha ended on Sunday. The counting of votes is on May 23. At a joint press conference here, which was addressed by Upendra Kushwaha, RJD state president Ramchandra Purve, state Congress president Madan Mohan Jha and other leaders of the Grand Alliance, they alleged exit polls prediction of NDA winning 30 or more seats in Bihar out of 40 was misleading and aimed at causing demoralization among our cadres, with a mala fide intent. "Earlier, we used to hear about booth loot. This time, it is suspected that attempts may be made to loot the results. These could be through manipulation of the EVMs or any other measures at the counting centres. The leaders of the NDA are hereby warned not to indulge in such a misadventure. There is tremendous public anger and blood may spill on the streets, for which we shall not be held responsible," Kushwaha told reporters. "The exit polls appear to have been a step in this direction. We have all toured the state during elections and can say, without any hesitation, that we are set to win most of the seats in the state. Such has been the public response in favour of the Mahagathbandhan," he said.

Upendra Kushwaha, RLSP in Patna: Vote ki raksha ke liye zaroorat pade toh hathiyaar bhi uthana ho toh uthaiye. Aaj jo result loot ki jo ghatna karne ki jo koshish ho rahi hai toh isko rokne ke liye hathiyaar bhi uthana ho toh uthana chahiye. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/g29bsWGyre

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2019

"In moments of desperation people pick up arms. The NDA must take care that things do not reach a flashpoint. Otherwise, we will not be responsible for the consequences," he added. Meanwhile, a political row erupted on Tuesday over reports of alleged tampering of EVMs and a concerned former President Pranab Mukherjee also stepped in to say the onus is on the Election Commission to put all speculation around these voting machines to rest. Also, leaders of as many as 22 opposition parties met the EC and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of the votes polled in the Lok Sabha election begins on May 23. The EC will meet on Wednesday to address their concerns. The delegation comprised of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, Nationalist Congress Party's Praful Patel, DMK's Kanimozhi, Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien, Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Misra, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal. The delegation requested that the verification of VVPAT slips of five randomly identified polling stations should be done prior to beginning the counting of votes and not after completion of the last round. They also sought that if any discrepancy is found anywhere during the VVPAT verification, 100 per cent counting of paper slips of VVPATs of all polling stations of that assembly segment should be done. (With inputs from agencies)