We can't understand EC's reluctance to count VVPAT slips: Congress

Hyderabad: The Congress will win at least seven to eight Lok Sabha seats in Telangana in the upcoming Parliament elections, senior party MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Mallu Bhatti Virkamarka has said. The senior Congress leader said his party has not lost support and following among people in the State. “The victory of Telangana Rashtra Samiti in the recent Assembly elections was because of the influence of money and supply of alcohol. There were several irregularities in the Assembly elections that made TRS victory possible,” he said.

He was speaking at a meet-the-press event organised by the Telangana Urdu Working Journalists Federation here on Thursday. Vikramarka denied alliances were the sole cause of his party’s loss in the elections. “Congress is firm that its doubts over the integrity of electronic voting machines must be cleared by the Election Commission. And we can’t understand EC’s reluctance to count VVPAT slips as sought by Congress. We will knock on every possible door over irregularities in the conduct of Assembly elections,” he said. Virkamarka also demanded that the State government immediately provide aid and compensation to stall owners who were victims of Wednesday night’s fire at the Numaish in the city.