Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) ensure proper polling and show correct numbers. Pawar also said that political parties blame the machines when they lose elections, but when they win ‘everything is fine.’
“The EVMs were used when Congress came to power in Rajasthan and Punjab. When a party wins an election everything is fine but when they lose badly, they allege that EVM has been managed. For example, Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats but if a party, let’s say, wins only 4-5 seats, its workers say that good voting took place in our village so we should’ve won at least 8,000 out of 10,000 votes. Hence, they suspect that something is wrong with the EVM. I have full faith in EVMs,” said Ajit Pawar.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister's remarks come after Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on February 2 asked the state legislature to frame a law to give voters the option of using ballot papers besides EVMs in the local governing bodies' and state Assembly polls.
Speaking to PTI, Patole had said, "I have asked the state government to frame a law in this connection. The state government can frame a law. In the past, doubts were raised during the elections (about EVM tampering)." Voting is a fundamental right and one should have the option of casting vote using ballot papers or EVM, he said.
Several parties, including the Congress, had in the past urged the Election Commission to revert to the ballot paper system, alleging tampering of EVMs in polls.
However, the BJP had previously hit out at the opposition parties for raising doubts over the credibility of EVMs. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are in power under the aegis of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, while the BJP is in the opposition in the state.
(Inputs from Agencies)
