Get your 14 Mayors to resign, re-contest with paper ballots: Mayawati

LUCKNOW: The war of words between the BJP and the BSP over civic poll results continued on Monday as the latter's supremo Mayawati dared the ruling party to direct all its 14 newly elected Mayors to resign and re-contest through paper ballot voting.

She was responding to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's rejection of her allegations on EVM tampering on Sunday.

"If she is so sure, she should get her party's Mayors in Aligarh and Meerut to quit and contest fresh elections. People who have won seats in elections held through Electronic Voting Machines are now questioning it," Adityanath had said.

Mayawati said his statement not only "smacked of arrogance of power" but also was akin to "ulta chor kotwal ko daante (a thief scolding a police officer)" .

The Bahujan Samaj Party leader also ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement who dubbed the Bharatiya Janata Party victory in Uttar Pradesh civic polls as "victory of BJP's vision".

"They could not manipulate the polls in Meerut and Aligarh as there was massive anger against the BJP and they feared a backlash in case EVMs were tampered with," the BSP leader said.

The BJP had rigged the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the February-March Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as well, the former Chief Minister claimed.