E-Paper
Stop use of EVMs, bring back ballot papers: Mayawati
Increasing doubts about the election process will undermine public faith in democracy, claims BSP chief
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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday demanded that voting through electronic voting machines (EVMs) be stopped and ballot paper system restored, saying doubts over the functioning of EVMs were shaking political parties and people’s faith in free and fair polls.
The BSP chief claimed that increasing doubts about the election process will undermine public faith in democracy. She said voters should have no doubt that their votes had “gone into someone else’s account”.
Addressing a press conference here, the BSP chief also targeted Azad Samaj Party president and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, claiming that despite lacking a significant support base in Nagina, he won the 2024 Lok Sabha election through ‘EVM rigging’.
“The BJP ensured Chandrashekhar’s poll victory. These days, he is moving across UP and other states where cases of Dalit atrocities are reported. Instead of talking to officers and demanding action against culprits, he provokes youths to launch agitations,” Mayawati alleged.
“The administration lodges cases against the youth. Then, they are barred from government jobs and have to fight cases in court. Chandrashekhar should not misguide the youth, and they should not support him,” she said.
Mayawati said the BSP has opposed the use of EVMs from the beginning and has even approached the Supreme Court, demanding voting through ballot papers. “However the apex court ordered the use of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs,” she added.
“The court also ordered that the slips dropped in the VVPAT after casting a vote be counted, but not all slips are counted. The Election Commission should ensure that voters have no doubts about free and fair elections,” Mayawati said.
“The Constitution gives every citizen the right to vote. Voters should be confident that their votes have been counted for the candidate or party they support,” she added.
Mayawati said the country conducted elections using ballot papers for nearly five decades. Political party representatives opened the ballot boxes for counting. Later, EVMs replaced ballot papers during the Congress government.
The BSP chief claimed that even the BJP, while in opposition, had questioned the reliability of EVMs. BJP leaders claimed that EVM chips could be hacked. Later, when the BJP came to power, it supported the use of EVMs, she said.
The BSP continued its opposition as the majority of its voters are poor, illiterate and ignorant. They vote for the BSP in Lok Sabha and assembly elections, yet the party does not get the desired result, Mayawati claimed.
“The ECI should stop polling through EVMs and remove the doubt among people regarding SIR. There is anger among the opposition parties regarding the working of the ECI. The poll panel should take my request seriously and work to protect the democracy,” she said.
