Mayawati ready to join other parties to keep EVM tampering flame lit

Mayawati had raised issue of EVM tampering after recent assembly elections in UP and Uttarakhand

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday said she is ready to join hands with other political parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of EVM tampering in the recent Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

"The BSP now has no reservations in taking the help of anti-BJP parties in its fight against EVM tampering and the BJP as it is the democracy which comes first...we have to keep democracy alive," she said while addressing an Ambedkar anniversary function of the party in Lucknow.

This was first major public appearance of Mayawati after her party's dismal show in the recent Assembly elections.

Mayawati had raised the issue of EVM tampering after recent Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Other political parties have raised question about the EVMs. Irked by the charges, the Election Commission (EC) has challenged sceptics to prove that EVMs can be tampered with.

She accused UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of indulging in political vendetta because "I'm being targeted under a conspiracy so that I stop speaking on the EVM tampering issue by the BJP."

Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into the Mayawati-led BSP government's decision to sell 21 state sugar mills in 2010-2011.