Stop crying foul over EVMs and accept public rejection: BJP to SP

Akhilesh Yadav said EVMs cannot be relied upon, demanded future elections through ballot papers

Instead of crying foul over the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Samajwadi Party should realise that people of Uttar Pradesh have rejected it, the BJP said on Saturday, retorting to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's demand for going back to ballot papers for holding elections.

The BJP, which decimated opposition to secure a thumping majority in UP assembly polls recently, said it seemed that the former chief minister does not have any faith either in the EVMs or the mandate of the state's voters.

"It seems that Akhilesh Yadav does not have any faith in the EVMs (electronic voting machines), the mandate of the people of UP, his father (SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav) or his uncle (former Shivpal Singh Yadav)," BJP's UP unit spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told PTI.

He said that instead of crying foul over the EVMs, the SP should try to come to terms with the reality that the people of the state have rejected it.

"The results of this UP assembly elections was a Tsunami, which simply annihilated all the possible caste equations. This is a grim reminder to regional satraps that days of politics of caste and religion are over," Tripathi said.

The BJP spokesperson also coined a new slogan -- 'Akhilesh, Maya, Kejriwal| ek sur, ek taal' -- on the prevailing situation vis-a-vis the row over EVMs.

Yadav earlier today said EVMs cannot be relied upon and demanded that all future elections be conducted through ballot papers.

"When will EVMs develop a snag no one can tell ... When will the software fail ... Machines cannot be relied upon. We do not have faith in EVMs," he told reporters here.

"We have 100 per cent faith in our ballot papers and it is our demand that future elections are held using them ... We do not want to go into whether EVMs are good or bad," the former UP chief minister said.

Yadav said people feel that they have been misled (by the BJP) for forming the government.

"The entire election was fought by spreading hatred in the name of caste and religion ... The votes were taken by promising benefits in the name of caste and religion," he said.