BJP may tamper EVMs in Karnataka too; ballot papers should be used in 2018 polls: BSP

Bengaluru, Nov 12: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which had earlier accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of tampering Electronic Voting Machines in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, has now demanded that Election Commission of India use ballot papers in 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls.

Addressing a media conference in Kalaburgi recently, Marasandra Muniyappa, State Coordinator of the party, said that “EVM tampering” by BJP was the only reason for his party’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh. “The BJP is capable of doing the same in Karnataka too,” he said.

He said: “Nowhere in the world, except in India, are EVMs used in elections, as there is a possibility of tampering with them. It is ‘EVM tampering’ alone that led to our defeat in Uttar Pradesh. Tampering with was not done in Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand that went to the polls, with Uttar Pradesh. It was done only in Uttar Pradesh as it had become an issue of prestige for the BJP to record a victory there,” he said. He added that his party approached the court as it had sufficient evidence to establish ‘EVM tampering’, he said.

Mr. Muniyappa exuded the confidence of winning at least 25 seats in the upcoming Assembly election in Karnataka. “We were in second or third places in five constituencies in the last election. We have built our party structure at grass-roots level and expanded our mass base in many constituencies,” he said.