CM DOUBTS RELIABILITY OF EVMS, WANTS BALLOT PAPERS IN MCD POLLS

Kejriwal’s demand comes after allegations that EVMS were tampered with in UP

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday asked the State Election Commission to conduct the upcoming civic polls through ballot paper instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS). Kejriwal’s demand comes amid allegations by some political leaders that EVMS were tampered with in the just-concluded assembly polls.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has directed the Chief Secretary to ask the State Election Commission to conduct municipal polls through paper ballot, said AAP sources.

The Municipal polls are due in April and the Election Commission is expected to make the poll announcement on Tuesday evening. “The Chief Minister has directed the chief secretary to ask the state election office to hold MCD elections through ballot papers,” said a source.

AAP spokesperson and Convener of Delhi Unit, Dilip Pandey, has also demanded the use of ballot instead of EVMS. The leader, in a letter to the Delhi CM has sought to conduct fair elections by using ballots. “A suspicion is being raised from various sections regarding election results of UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur following which people have been losing their faith in voting process through EVMS. Unless we reach to a consensus on these machines, their use should be prohibited.

AAP’S Jarnail Singh, who lost to former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi, also demanded the use of ballots in the elections ahead. “Although we accept the defeat, we have serious doubts over the results in Punjab. There are several villages in the Lambi constituency where we have received fewer votes than the number of volunteers we have there. For the first time, voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) was used in Punjab. When we asked the Returning Officer to tally the number of votes to the VVPATS, he refused,” Singh said.

Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken also wrote to the Commission over the matter. Earlier, Maken had made a similar request to Kejriwal saying the Chief Minister was empowered to hold civic polls on the ballot paper. “Many doubt the EVMS. Not prejudiced-nor casting aspersions on results. I want Arvind Kejriwal to hold MCD elections through ballot papers,” Maken tweeted.

It may be noted that after the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was decimated in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, party chief Mayawati was the first to allege the voting machines had been ‘managed’ to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party. She has asked the poll panel to do re-polling using paper ballots in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.