Smarting under defeat in Gujarat civic polls, Congress today blamed the "tampered" electronic voting machine for the loss and said it did not reflect "public opinion" even as a triumphant BJP took potshots at the main Opposition party in the state.

"All EVMs were made by a Hyderabad-based company for the state government eight years ago. Therefore, it is the state government which has control over them. I believe they have tampered with the EVMs," senior Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela alleged.

"It (BJP win) is not Modi magic. It is machine magic which has brought victory to BJP. The municipal polls do not reflect public opinion," the former Union Minister said.

Replying to the allegations, Chief Minister Narendra Modi shot back "Congress people should understand that it is not the machine magic but magic of people's ire which has brought these results."

"Even the Prime Minister has said that EVMs cannot be tampered with. If they do not want to believe us, they should believe their own Prime Minister," the BJP leader, who campaigned extensively in run up to the October 10 polls, said while addressing a public rally in Godhra.

Of the total six corporations, BJP won five (Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara and Bhavnagar) with two- thirds majority while one (Jamnagar) was won by the saffron party with a simple majority.

Vaghela, a former Chief Minister and an ex-BJP leader, demanded an inquiry into the matter. He said a committee comprising members of BJP and Congress and technical experts should be constituted to inquire into the EVMs.

Gujarat Congress President Siddharth Patel said BJP by allegedly tinkering with EVMs had tampered with the public opinion. "The EVMs used during the polls were old and had outdated technology. Voting preference can be tampered using the simple bluetooth technology available today."

He alleged a US technical expert was called especially for the poll by the Chief Minister's Office. "This confirms our doubts the EVMs were tampered with by the government."

Patel, however, said his party would introspect on the resounding defeat in the corporation polls whose results were declared on Tuesday.

State Election Commission (SEC) officials maintained that the EVMs cannot be tinkered with. "EVMs are checked before elections and sealed thereafter. They are opened on the counting day. They cannot be tampered with," SEC Secretary P S Shah said.

"If anybody has any complaint against the EVMs or any other election procedure, they can approach us and also the courts. If somebody files a case in the court, then the data on EVMs is stored till the matter is disposed."