Lucknpw: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the biggest challenger to the BJP in the recently held assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, has alleged that Electronic Voting machines were being taken away from counting centres in Varanasi just two days before counting of votes. The exit polls are "adding to the perception that the BJP is winning and any theft that may be happening is sidestepped," he said, declaring that it is time to save democracy.
As videos of the EVMs in the truck are being circulated on social media, the District Magistrate of Varanasi said the EVMs were not the ones used for voting and are just being used for "hands-on training".
Accusing "some political parties" of "spreading rumours", Kaushal Raj Sharma said the EVMs used in the elections "are all sealed in the strong room in the possession of CRPF and there is CCTV surveillance which is being watched by people of all political parties".
Appearing before the media, Akhilesh Yadav, however, staunchly countered the claim.
"In Varanasi, we intercepted one truck and two trucks fled. If there was no suspicious activity, how did two trucks with EVMs escape? You cannot move any EVMs from anywhere without the consent of candidates," he said.
"We were getting information that a principal Secretary to the Chief Minister was calling District Magistrates, saying 'counting should be slow wherever the BJP is losing'," he said, adding, "Now that the EVMs have been caught, the officials will make multiple excuses..."
In the last election, the BJP had won 47 seats with a margin of less than 5,000 votes, the Samajwadi Party chief said. Now that the exit polls are "adding to the perception that the BJP is winning, any theft that may be happening is sidestepped" he said.
The counting of votes for the mammoth seven-phase elections which ended yesterday, will take place on Thursday. The Samajwadi Party has claimed that it will win and form government in the state, where the BJP is hoping for another term in power.
All exit polls, however, have predicted a BJP victory. An aggregate of ten exit polls yesterday indicated that the BJP may win 240-plus of the state's 403 assembly seats, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party may win 130-plus seats.