Raj Thackeray meets Chief Election Commissioner

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and submitted a letter regarding "restoring faith in the election process in the country" in New Delhi on Monday.

"People are losing faith in the elections conducted through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and to restore this trust we need to start using ballot papers again just like in the previous elections in the country," he said while talking to the media.

He also said that the BJP before winning 2014 elections was approaching the court against EVMs but after the party won, nobody came forward to speak and now other political parties are speaking about it, so why we are using EVMs in the elections?

"I have no hope from the election commission but as a formality, I have submitted a letter regarding this concern," expressing his doubts on any action from the EC, he said.

"The reason a country chooses to be a democracy is that it gives moral legitimacy to the government. The reason for this legitimacy is the people's will. The people's will is expressed through the vote. This vote must be recorded and counted correctly. This recording and counting process must be accessible to, and verifiable by the public. So, the transparency, verifiability, and secrecy are the three pillars of a free and fair election. This is the prime objective of the Election Commission of India - To conduct free and fair elections. A paper ballot emerges as an obvious, tried and tested method for this," the excerpt from the letter read.

In the letter, he also requested to conduct the upcoming assembly election to be held in Maharashtra with ballot papers.