BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday questioned the credibility of the electronic voting machine-based electoral process, alleging that EVMs were being used to influence free and fair voting and claiming that a large section of the population was demanding a return to the ballot paper system.
Mayawati alleged that money and muscle power, misuse of government machinery and the criminalisation of politics had long affected elections.
In a statement issued after a meeting of the BSP’s Uttar Pradesh unit office-bearers here, Mayawati said her party was the first to oppose the use of EVMs after noticing concerns over the credibility of the voting process. “After the BSP ensured unity and awareness among the Bahujan Samaj, a new method was allegedly devised to influence free and fair voting by using EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) as a weapon,” she said. Mayawati said the issue had been a longstanding concern of the BSP since the Congress-led governments’ tenure and had remained a major reason for the party’s political struggle.
The former chief minister added that when the BSP first opposed the system over concerns about the credibility of voting, opposition parties and elements favouring the existing establishment did not appreciate its stand. She also alleged that the Congress had a widely known tainted record in matters relating to electoral malpractice.
“Today, most people in the country do not consider the EVM-based system prima facie to be compatible with a free and fair electoral process and are demanding restoration of the earlier arrangement of conducting elections through ballot papers,” Mayawati said. “The fundamental reason behind the country’s political, social and economic system becoming hollow is the absence of a completely credible, independent, impartial and accountable electoral system,” she said.
