‘EVMs can’t be a problem only when you lose elections’: Omar Abdullah takes dig at Congress

Omar’s National Conference is part of the INDIA bloc and the Congress is an alliance partner of the NC in J&K.

“The thing is, how can you have problems with the EVMs and then continue to fight elections,” Omar said. “If you don’t trust the machines, then you shouldn’t be fighting elections. You can’t say I don’t trust the machines and I am going to fight. If I win, I am going to keep quiet and if I lose, then something is wrong with the machines,” he said.

He pointed out that if getting 100-plus members of Parliament in Lok Sabha elections “using the same EVMs” is celebrated as “sort of a victory for your party, you can’t then a few months later turn around and say well actually, we didn’t like the EVMs because the election results are not going the way we would like them to”, he told PTI.

When asked in the interview if he sounded like a BJP spokesperson over his stance on the EVMs, Omar said, “No, I am not a BJP spokesperson… It is just that what is right is right.”

He said that when he lost in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, he “never blamed the machines”.

Elections are won or lost because of the voters, Omar said, adding: “One day they vote for you, another day, they don’t.”