Jaipur, Nov. 6 -- Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday challenged Congress over its criticism of electronic voting machines (EVMs), asking, "Who brought EVMs? The Congress did." Vaishnaw was addressing a rally at Ramlila Maidan in Jaipur, held as part of BJP's "Loktantra Bachao, Arajakata Hatao" (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) campaign. He also defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. "Is this the first SIR in the country?" he asked, saying the exercise had been conducted several times since Independence, including under Congress governments. Vaishnaw told the gathering that SIR was intended to keep voter lists accurate by removing the names of deceased voters, recording changes of address and correcting duplicate entries. "The voter list is the fundamental foundation of democracy," he said, adding that it was Election Commission's responsibility to ensure the rolls were accurate. The Union minister accused Congress of opposing the revision to question democratic institutions after losing public support. He said introduction of EVMs and changes to election process had given voters the opportunity to choose their preferred candidates. Vaishnaw also accused Congress of selectively criticising EVMs, saying it had no objection to the machines when it won elections in Kerala. At Ramlila Maidan, Vaishnaw challenged the Congress to debate the issue in Parliament, which he described as the appropriate forum for discussing public matters with facts and logic. "Politics is not driven by accusations and counter-accusations on social media, but by winning the public's trust," he said. Vaishnaw also accused Congress leaders of taking to the streets over electoral issues instead of strengthening democratic institutions. During his speech, he led BJP workers in raising slogans calling for democracy to be saved and anarchy to be removed. While talking to media persons, Vaishnaw said an investigation was underway into the explosion on a railway track in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district. He said that railway and state officials were coordinating with the state's DGP, chief minister and chief secretary. "Once preliminary evidence is available, the state government will decide whether to involve the NIA," Vaishnaw said, adding that the conspiracy would be exposed and those responsible would face action. Speaking at the same public meeting, chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma targeted the Congress over its record on democracy. "Before talking about democracy, the Congress should answer for its history of the Emergency and anti-democratic actions," he said. The chief minister referred to the Emergency imposed in 1975, saying democracy had been "strangled" and people who opposed it had been jailed for months. Their families, too, had faced hardship, he said. Sharma also accused the Congress of misusing Article 356 of the Constitution to dismiss elected state governments. Referring to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's resignation after his government lost a confidence vote by one vote, Sharma told the gathering that the episode showed respect for democratic norms. He accused the Congress of weakening public confidence in institutions by repeatedly questioning the Army, Election Commission, Supreme Court, Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation. After the meeting at Ramlila Maidan, Vaishnaw, Sharma and other BJP leaders joined a march from New Gate to Tripolia Gate. BJP state in-charge Sanjay Bhatia, state president Madan Rathore and Jaipur MP Manju Sharma also participated. Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully sharply rejected the Railway Minister's allegations. "Congress introduced EVMs to strengthen democracy, not undermine it," Jully told HT. He added, "Even when SIR was introduced, Congress did not take away voters' rights." Jully accused BJP of being dishonest on both issues, saying the public could see through it....