Mayawati-led BSP today staged nationwide 'virodh diwas' (day of protest) against alleged tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the recently-held Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections "to benefit BJP."
Party cadres held demonstrations at all the 75 district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh and the party headquarters in other states to protest "murder of democracy", a BSP spokesman said here.
Quoting party supremo Mayawati, he said, besides the political fight against electoral malpractice, BSP was also fighting it out in the court.
"Because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah's hunger for power, democracy was not only murdered in UP and Uttarakhand, but in Goa and Manipur too," Mayawati said, adding the mandate was crushed by misusing power and money.
A fight against the wrong will go on, both in and outside Parliament, she said.
"As BJP, which had earlier used money power of capitalists, is out to crush democracy, there is an urgent need to oppose it at every level. Otherwise, this practice will deprive people of their constitutional right to freedom and self respect," she said.
The "face, character and mannerisms" of the BJP have always been against the poor, labourers, farmers, dalits and religious minorities, and these developments have further exposed them, the BSP chief said.
Mayawati's BSP had fared badly in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The party managed to bag just 19 seats in the 403-member House, down from 80 seats it had won in 2012. BSP had also failed to win any seat in the politically crucial state in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The BSP supremo had also dismissed the poll results, accusing the BJP with tampering EVMs in the latter's favour.
Mayawati had announced that her party workers will organise dharna on 11th of every month to observe March 11, the day of UP election results, as "black day".
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