Democracy in danger, says Chandrababu Naidu, continues tirade against EVM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of betraying the nation while asserting that the democracy is in danger and usage of EVMs must be stopped.

Holding a media briefing in the presence of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Dayanidhi Maran and other leaders of his party, Naidu said, "I want to appeal to Tamil Nadu voters that democracy is in danger. Narendra Modi has done so much injustice to the nation and betrayed the nation."

Continuing with his tirade against EVM, he said the machine is not used by most of the countries in the world.

"Out of 10 populous countries, only three are using it partially. Germany one of the most advanced countries technologically started EVM in 2005 and discontinued its usage in 2009. Similarly, Netherland and Ireland also stopped it due to different concerns," he said.

Claiming EVMs are vulnerable, Naidu said, "Even yesterday, CEC agreed on malfunctioning of EVM. There is neither any auditing of EVMs today nor there is any regulator to oversee it. EVM is vulnerable to programmable error."

Naidu also alleged that 25 lakh voters have been removed in Telangana by using form-7.

"Yesterday, the Election Commissioner admitted there is the possibility of tampering," said Naidu.

He also claimed that Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer was unable to vote in the first time because EVM was not working and he has to come again.

"The Election Commission failed in the state and voting at many places lasted till 4 am", said Andhra Chief Minister Naidu.

On April 11, polling in a few districts of Andhra Pradesh was disrupted briefly due to malfunctioning of EVMs, following which Naidu requested the EC for an extension of polling time in the state to compensate for the time lost due to technical glitches.

Voting took place for all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh and for its 175 Assembly seats on April 11. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.