Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati demanded on Tuesday that voting for the 2019 Lok Sabha election be conducted through ballot paper and not the Electronic Voting Machines.
Ms. Mayawati reiterated her earlier stand against the use of EVMs while referring to the claims made at a press conference in London by a self-styled cyber expert Syed Shuja that the machines used by the Election Commission of India could be hacked. The 2014 Lok Sabha election were also rigged, the cyber expert alleged in the sensational claim.
Ms. Mayawati said until the “serious doubts” about EVMs were resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, it would be better to conduct the upcoming polls through ballot. Asking the ECI to step in and take action, Ms. Mayawati said the issue demanded urgent attention in the interest of democracy.
Ms. Mayawati said the new facts that had come into light during the London press conference were serious and hinted at a deeper conspiracy, with fingers pointing directly at the ruling BJP.
Akhilesh Yadav, chief of her new ally, Samajwadi Party, in Uttar Pradesh also supported the stand against EVMs and asked the government and the ECI to take a call.
“We must think why a country like Japan, which is much ahead in science and technology, is not using EVMs. This question pertains not just to a [political] party, but it is about the trust in democracy,” said Mr. Yadav.
