BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday questioned the credibility of the electronic voting machine-based electoral process, alleging that EVMs were being used to influence free and fair voting and claiming that a large section of the population was demanding a return to the ballot paper system.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was addressing a meeting of BSP state-level, divisional and district-level functionaries, including presidents of all 75 districts, convened to review the party’s preparations for the forthcoming UP polls. In UP, allegations of irregularities in Pilibhit’s electoral rolls have prompted scrutiny and action against officials, with the state election office on Wednesday announcing a special voter enrolment drive under the Special Summary Revision-2027, focusing on eligible youth and women whose names are missing from electoral rolls. The former chief minister added that when the BSP first opposed the system over concerns about the credibility of voting, opposition parties and elements favouring the existing establishment did not appreciate its stand. Mayawati’s remarks also come amid allegations by opposition parties, including Samajwadi Party and Congress, questioning EVMs, voter-list revisions and the Election Commission’s functioning.
In a statement issued after a meeting of the BSP’s Uttar Pradesh unit office-bearers here, Mayawati said her party was the first to oppose the use of EVMs after noticing concerns over the credibility of the voting process. “Today, most people in the country do not consider the EVM-based system prima facie to be compatible with a free and fair electoral process and are demanding restoration of the earlier arrangement of conducting elections through ballot papers,” Mayawati said. Mayawati said the issue had been a longstanding concern of the BSP since the Congress-led governments’ tenure and had remained a major reason for the party’s political struggle.
