Smarting from the crushing loss in Maharashtra, months after the Haryana debacle, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge today protested against the use of voting machines or EVMs and suggested a return to ballot paper.
“We should all unite and move forward together and push them aside. I do not wish to speak about elections, but I would surely say the votes of all the poor and oppressed communities are going to waste. They should all demand voting by ballot paper,” the 82-year-old Congress chief said speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan’ function at Talkatora stadium in Delhi.
“Let them keep EVMs with them. We don’t want EVMs, we want voting on ballot paper. Then they will know what their position is and where they stand,” he said.
The demand comes on the same day the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to go back to ballot paper voting in elections in the country, saying allegations of tampering with voting machines is raked up only when people lose polls.
Mr Kharge also called for a campaign on the scale of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra for return to the ballot paper.
“From our party, we should start this campaign to make everyone aware that they should want ballot paper back. We will speak to other political parties also,” Mr Kharge said, urging Rahul Gandhi to launch a movement.
“We should start a campaign like Bharat Jodo Yatra to bring back the ballot paper,” he stressed.
Earlier today, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress chief Nana Patole refused to accept the Maharashtra Assembly election results, saying that the “EVM issue” is not being taken seriously.
“Whatever election results have come, they are not acceptable to anyone, not even to the people of Maharashtra,” Mr Patole told news agency ANI.
“So we have brainstormed on this issue and if you see social media in Maharashtra today, the public says that the government has not come with our votes, so the Congress party has always respected the sentiments of the public,” he told the news agency.
He said that no one is listening to the problems raised by the people of alleged mismatch of votes, leaving a mass movement to be the only option left for them.
“No one is listening on this (EVM issue), we also went to the Supreme Court, they said to prove it. Public sentiment says that we give our vote to X but it is being marked in the name of Y, so no one is listening to the problems. So it seems except a mass movement there is no other way,” he added.