Mayawati demands ballot papers for Lok Sabha polls

Lucknow, Jan 22 BSP supremo Mayawati Tuesday requested that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls be held using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The demand comes after a self-proclaimed US-based Indian cyber expert Monday made a sensational claim that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were "rigged" through the EVMs, which, he stated, can be hacked.

"The latest revelations have made the doubts on the EVMs more serious. It is better under such conditions that the future races, particularly the up and coming Lok Sabha polls, be conducted using ballot papers which can be verified at three levels unlike the EVMs," she said in a statement issued here.

Urging the Election Commission to take solid note of the issue, Mayawati said the most recent "disclosures" are most shocking and expose the "conspiracy" of the BJP.

"This has directly put the BJP in the dock but the central government is unlikely to make any positive move to address the issue in view of its egoistical and stubborn attitude," she alleged.

She said the BSP was the first party to question the credibility of EVMs.

Mayawati claimed that the people have additionally begun to feel that their votes are in effect constantly "plundered" in a composed way.

The BSP boss said the people's apprehension over 'vote humara, raj tumhara' (our vote, your rule) needs to be addressed.

Addressing a press conference in London by means of Skype, the "cyber expert", identified as Syed Shuja, said Monday that he fled India in 2014 in light of the fact that he felt undermined in the nation after the killing of some of his team members.

In spite of the fact that he showed up on screen through Skype, his face was covered.

Shuja, who said he is seeking political asylum in the US, guaranteed the telecom goliath Reliance Jio helped the BJP to get low recurrence signs to hack the EVMs. He gave no proof to back up his claim.

However, Jio was not in activity in 2014 and had propelled its services in September 2016.

Denying all the charges against the BJP, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad affirmed that the controversial press conference in London was sponsored by the Congress.