The Delhi Chief Minister pitched for ballot papers after he alleged that EVMs can be tampered with
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal turned down Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's proposal for using paper ballot during municipal corporations elections on April 22, saying the change of mode of polling was not feasible due to the "time constraint". Baijal told the Delhi government that the rules will have to be amended for end use the Electronic Voter Machines (EVM) and it was not possible to make the changes as little over a month is left for the polls.
Baijal has replied to the plea of Kejriwal, who after facing defeat in assembly polls in Punjab, asked hin to replace EVMs with paper ballot in corporation polls. The Delhi Chief Minister pitched for ballot papers after he alleged that EVMs can be tampered with.
Kejriwal's allegations of EVM tampering came as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, who had made similar claims after her party was decimated in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, said that she will move court against the alleged tampering of EVMs.
The Election Commission has rubbished the allegations of EVM tampering as "wild and baseless".
Kejriwal had even requested Baijal to call a meeting of all political parties and the State Election Commission to explore the possibility of using ballot papers in the civic polls.
Baijal said that it was not possible to amend the existing rules to hold municipal corporations elections at a time when polling dates have already been announced by the State Election Commission. All three civic bodies polls will be held on April 22 and the results will come out on April 25.
Sources said that Kejriwal had also met Baijal on Wednesday and requested him to approve his proposal. However, these sources added that Baijal has told Kejriwal that MCD elections had also been held in 2007 and 2012 as also the bypoll in 2016 using EVMs.
Earlier this week, State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava had also said that the commission had started the preparations for the polls keeping in mind the use of EVMs only. Post AAP's electoral defeat in Punjab, Kejriwal alleged that EVM tampering in the state could be part of a conspiracy to keep his party out of power in the state.
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