Casting doubt on the local assembly byelection result, the PPP claims to have the evidence that the ruling alliance tampered with electronic voting machines (EVMs) to manipulate the outcome.
Speaking here on Monday, Manpreet Singh Badal, president of the People’s Party of
Punjab (PPP), charged the state's ruling alliance of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with winning the Moga byelection by using anti-democratic means.
"The alliance managed to tamper with the EVMs," he said during a meeting in his party's office.
"The PPP will publish solid paper evidence that the EVMs were hacked in the Moga byelection," said the Sanjha Morcha leader. “It will hold 100 public meetings across the state in the next 30 days to motivate people to fight corruption, drugs and violation of the model code of conduct for elections." He further accused the ruling alliance of winnin the votes with the help of liquor, muscle power and money.
Manpreet appealed to the election commission to scrap the EVMs as means to record public mandate. "The PPP has raised the issue even before; and requested the EC to follow the path of other democracies that have declined to trust the voting machine." He suggested that the country should go back to the system of paper ballot.
"The PPP received fewer votes from the last assembly election indeed," he said. "We will pay even more attention to the problems of youth and deprived sections.” The PPP will keep its state office in Moga and the former state finance minister is confident of its performing well in the next parliamentary elections.