Lucknow, 28 Sept (HS): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national

president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has demanded scrapping

use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections and the return to paper

ballots. She also alleged that the BJP rigged the election to harm the BSP by

securing the victory of Azad Samaj Party chief and current Nagina MP

Chandrashekhar Azad.

Referring to the allegations being levelled by the

opposition parties against the Election Commission in a press conference in

Lucknow on Monday, Mayawati said that to restore everyone's faith in free and

fair elections in the country, BSP strongly demands that elections through EVMs

should be stopped immediately and the process of voting through ballot papers

should be started again in its place.

The BSP chief said that for nearly five decades, since the

first elections in the country, ballot papers were used for voting, which were

opened and counted in front of representatives of all parties at the time of

counting. She alleged that the Election Commission has abolished this process

and is now using EVMs instead of ballot papers.

Former Chief Minister Mayawati claimed that when the

Congress Party was in power at the Centre, the BJP was the first to oppose it.

BJP members had said that EVMs are machines whose electronic chips can be

easily hacked. They even published a book providing evidence of this. They

alleged that the Congress Party wins elections by misusing EVMs. Surprisingly,

when the BJP won the elections and came to power at the Centre, instead of

abolishing EVMs, it has continued the process of voting and countiously using

them. The BSP has opposed voting using EVMs from the very beginning.

Mayawati alleged that the BJP rigged EVMs to ensure the

victory of current Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, despite his lack of support.

Now, acting at the behest of this party, it reaches wherever injustice and

atrocities, especially against Dalits, occur. By instigating protests and

demonstrations, especially by instigating youth, it files cases against them

under various sections. This will prevent them from getting government jobs

quickly, even until their cases are over. Then, they will be left stranded by

the legal hassles of court proceedings. Therefore, Dalits, in particular,

should not be misled by them at all.

Mayawati said that the Election Commission should have

timely addressed the misconceptions surrounding the Special Intensive Review

(SIR) and other related matters, which has forced our party to reflect. The

entire opposition is currently furious, but this situation should not have

arisen. Furthermore, there are numerous other election-related issues. If those

misconceptions had been addressed timely, the situation would not have become

as dire as it is now. The BSP again strongly demands that elections be

abolished using EVMs and conducted using ballot papers.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi