Ranchi, Oct 9 (IANS): A day after the crushing defeat of Congress in the Haryana Assembly elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) blamed it on the ‘malfunctioning and manipulation’ of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

JMM General Secretary Manoj Kumar Pandey, speaking to IANS said that there was something fishy since the beginning as the Congress party had a lead till the first five rounds of counting but suddenly there was a turnaround.

Pandey claimed: "Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were manipulated to benefit a certain party. At the start of counting, Congress was leading with a figure of 70 for five rounds and then suddenly it started going down. There are two things which I think are unusual is that the way the result came is raising serious concerns. Secondly, the BJP used a rapist Baba to win elections in Haryana. It is a matter of great shame and they have used Ram Rahim to influence the people to get votes in their favour."

JMM leader further said that winning and losing elections was a different matter but the BJP broke all moral boundaries by fielding Baba Ram Rahim as its ‘star campaigner’.

"Who was your star campaigner in Haryana? I don't believe it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It was Ram Rahim who was their star campaigner there. You can imagine how helpless this party is. The people of Haryana have also shown that they are with Vinesh Phogat and not with the people like Ram Rahim," he added.

He further stated that if Congress had formed an alliance in Haryana, then the result would have been different.

"I think, it is an internal matter of Congress. If they had allied in Haryana then we think that some seats would have increased. But, that's not the only reason. Congress faced defeat. I think they should implement all those in the forthcoming elections," he asserted.

Congress has also registered a complaint with the Election Commission over the alleged delay in updating the Haryana Assembly election results on the official website.