EVM tampering may have led to AAP’s poor showing in Punjab, alleged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday. He said that around 20 to 25% of the party’s votes may have been “transferred” to the SAD-BJP coalition.
AAP’s poor tally of 20 seats is “beyond understanding” and raises a “big question mark” on the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) as political pundits across the spectrum had “predicted a landslide” for the party, he said at a press conference in Delhi.
“How did the Akalis get 30% vote share when an AAP sweep was a foregone conclusion? No one said Congress will perform so well and it got a two-third majority. We suspect that 20-25 % of AAP votes may have been transferred to SAD-BJP through EVM tampering,” he said.
It was Mr. Kejriwal’s first media interaction after March 11, the day the Punjab Assembly poll results were declared. The AAP national convenor, however, did not refer to Goa where the party drew a blank.
On Tuesday, he had written to the Delhi chief secretary directing him to approach the state election commission with the request to hold the upcoming municipal polls in Delhi using ballot papers.
Mr. Kejriwal demanded that the votes registered in EVMs (electronic voting machines) be compared with the VVPAT trail in around 32 places in Punjab where the the paper audit system was in place.
“It is about the credibility of the Election Commission and the faith of people in the electoral system. We have strong prima facie evidence of foul play,” he said.
