Criticism of EVMs is out of fear of defeat, says Nitish Kumar

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Sunday that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) have helped making elections "transparent and impartial" and those criticising them were doing so out of the fear of defeat.

Kumar's observation came a day before the counting of votes for the Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, and in the backdrop of allegations of EVM tampering in Gujarat to favour the BJP.

"Some may criticize the EVMs out of fear of defeat, but the EVMs have made elections transparent and impartial. Now, nobody can deprive anybody of the right to cast votes," Kumar, who has predicted a comfortable majority for the BJP in Gujarat, tweeted in Hindi.

The Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and Patidar leader Hardik Patel have expressed apprehension that the EVMs may have been tampered with in Gujarat where the BJP has been in power for 22 years and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had served as the Chief Minister for over a decade.