TMC MPs protest in Parliament complex against use of EVMs

Demanding use of ballot papers, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs on Monday staged a demonstration in the Parliament complex against the use of Electronic Voting Machines in the elections.

TMC parliamentarians gathered in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue with placards reading 'No EVM, We want paper ballot' written in English, Hindi and Bangla.

After the Lok Sabha poll results, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accused BJP of resorting to EVM tampering to win elections. "We want ballot papers back. We do not want EVM. Save democracy, bring back ballot papers," she had said.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati had also made a similar accusation against the ruling party and said the BJP hijacked the electoral process using EVMs.

Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had also asked the Election Commission to conduct elections through ballot paper.

Several other Opposition parties have been claiming that there are chances of EVM rigging and that voting should be done using ballot paper.

Two days before the May 23 elections, leaders of 22 major Opposition parties had urged the Election Commission to increase the number of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) to be matched with the EVM votes. However, the request was turned down.

The Election Commission, following the existing procedure, had matched VVPATs with five randomly selected EVMs per Assembly constituency segment as a confidence-building measure.

TMC won 22 Lok Sabha seats in these elections, 11 down from its earlier number in the lower House of the Parliament.