NEW DELHI: The opposition INDIA bloc in Maharashtra will move the Supreme Court over the alleged manipulation of EVMs in the recent assembly elections.
The decision to approach the Supreme Court against the Election Commission was announced by Prashant Jagtap, leader of the NCP-Sharad Pawar who lost the assembly elections from the Hadapsar seat in Pune.
The decision was announced after a meeting between NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and noted lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi, reported news agency PTI.
In the meeting, Kejriwal also flagged concerns related to voter lists in Delhi where assembly elections are due early next year.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of India (ECI) claimed that, in a mandatory count, there was no mismatch found in the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) slips and the votes polled in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections.
In the elections held last month, the BJP-led Mahayuti received a paradigm-shattering mandate as the ruling coalition won 235 seats in the 288-member assembly while the opposition was virtually decimated, with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance bagging only 46.
The issue of EVMs authenticity had blown up after the Maharsthra polls as over 20 candidates from opposition parties who lost the assembly elections raised serious concerns about the integrity of EVMs.
These candidates had alleged significant discrepancies between the votes polled and the results declared, particularly in constituencies where opposition had expected strong performance.
Last week, the opposition parties in Maharashtra boycotted the oath-taking ceremony during the first day of the assembly’s special session. The boycott was led by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which included prominent opposition parties like Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.
The leaders of these parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, voiced their concerns regarding the fairness of the recent elections. Thackeray accused the Election Commission of allowing “misuse of EVMs” during the state assembly elections.
