Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav raised questions about electronic voting machines (EVMs) and said that there were possibilities of the machines being misused during polls.
When petrol can be stolen with the help of a remote through a chip without having any Internet connection, then it can be done through EVMs too. We need to stop the wrong use of technology. (sic)Akhilesh Yadav, Chief, Samajwadi Party (SP)
In his statement, he was referring to Uttar Pradesh police raiding seven petrol pumps on 28 April. These petrol pumps were allegedly using remote-controlled electronic chips in fuel dispensing machines to unsuspecting consumers.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Akhilesh Singh Yadav has questioned EVMs. He had earlier claimed that EVMs can’t be relied upon and demanded that future elections be conducted through ballot papers. He had said earlier,
When EVMs will develop a snag no one can tell. When will the software fail? Machines cannot be relied upon. We do not have faith in EVMs.
BSP supremo Mayawati had also alleged misuse of EVMs in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and had blamed it for her party's poor showing.
However, the Election Commission (EC) has rubbished any allegations of misuse of EVMs.
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