Naidu meets Gowda over EVM issue

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday met former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda as part of his efforts to mobilise opposition parties on the controversy over alleged manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Confabulating with Gowda for over an hour here late Tuesday night after a meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi on the EVM issue earlier in the day, Naidu said 23 parties were raising the issue and demanding transparency and accountability.

"Earlier, even the BJP had opposed EVMs," he said. "In Uttar Pradesh, we are seeing EVMs in hotels and homes... strong rooms are being changed," Naidu alleged.

Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacking the bogey of EVM raised by the opposition, Naidu said, "Why is the PM opposing? There is EVM and VVPAT. You have spent Rs 9,000 crore... Why are you not showing transparency and accountability?"
Asked about the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition in the event of anti-BJP parties getting the numbers, Naidu said, "We will sit together and discuss the PM candidate after the results on May 23."