AAP loses all seats in Gujarat, asks why VVPAT slips not counted

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which lost all 29 seats it contested in the Gujarat Assembly elections questioned why VVPAT slips were not being counted and said that the BJP will be "exposed soon".

AAP Delhi MLA and Chief Spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj told IANS that the BJP was "hiding something" by not accepting to count the VVPAT slips. "BJP has given no reason for not counting VVPAT slips. They are hiding something and they will be exposed soon," he said.

"Though we were hardly a political stakeholder in the elections of Gujarat and Himachal, we would like to reiterate our demand for counting VVPAT paper slips. At least 25 per cent paper slips should be randomly selected in each constituency and it should be tallied with EVM results," the leader said.

He said there was no logical reason why these VVPAT slips should not be counted. "Why is there so much resistance from BJP, its leaders and government to count VVPAT?" he asked.

AAP Gujarat spokesperson Harshil Nayak told IANS that the major reasons for the defeat include the party's late decision to fight the elections and absence of the AAP central leadership in the election campaign.

"There was confusion over whether to contest the election or not and we decided very late to fight the election and it affected us," Nayak said.