Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday said the secret to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s victory in Uttar Pradesh was because the Electronic Voting Machines, or EVMs, have been tampered with. Mayawati’s BSP has performed abysmally in the assembly elections. At the time of filing of this report at 2pm, the BSP was leading in a mere 16 of the 403 seats. This was despite getting a respectable vote share of 22 per cent.
At a press conference in Lucknow, Mayawati called for a return to the old system of ballot papers. She said her suspicion is confirmed by the fact that BJP has won even in Muslim majority seats.
She appealed for support from other opposition parties. Mayawati said Indian democracy would be under threat if EVMs are used in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and it would be meaningless for opposition parties to contest the elections.
The former UP chief minister said similar complaints were made in the United States in the past about voting machines. She said her party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.
Mayawati asked for annulling of the UP assembly polls, and pointed to complaints that had surfaced during the recent civic polls in Maharashtra.
