Every political party other than BJP wants verification of 50 per cent of votes through VVPAT: Kejriwal

Every political party other than Modi-led BJP are pressing for verification of 50 per cent of the votes through paper trails, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"If BJP does not want Voter Verifies Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) to be counted, then why did they spend 9,000 crores on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)? They do not want VVPAT to be counted since they are benefiting from the laxity," CM Kejriwal told media persons here on Sunday.

He also alleged that in the last five years, whenever an EVM had become dysfunctional, it was found that each of its buttons directed votes to the BJP. "How is this possible? BJP puts a programme into the machine and when it is caught, they put off the blame by claiming that it has become dysfunctional," he alleged.

The Delhi chief minister also alleged that the Election Commission (EC) only listens to concerns of the BJP. "It is sad that EC, whose work is to conduct free and fair elections, is not paying heed to such a critical issue," Kejriwal added.

On March 29, the election watchdog told the Supreme Court that the move to verify 50 per cent of votes through paper trails would delay the announcement of Lok Sabha polls results by at least six days. Following which, on April 7, twenty-one political parties moved the Apex Court contending that they are agreeable to a delay of six days, given that it ensures the integrity of the electoral process.

The petition was led by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and included KC Venugopal (Congress), Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Derek O Brien (TMC), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Danish Ali (JDS).