BJP trying to steal EVMs in Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav

After his party workers got hold of a truck with EVMs in Varanasi, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday charged the BJP government of sabotaging the mandate.

Rejecting the exit polls that predicted a clear to a sweeping majority to the ruling party, he claimed it was a move to demotivate the party workers so that when the BJP indulged in foul play, it was not noticed. “I want to ask who is funding this huge exercise and what is the monetary relationship between those who are conducting them and those who are telecasting them.”

Holding a joint press conference with Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party’s (SBSP) Om Prakash Rajbhar in Lucknow, Mr. Yadav said the 2022 polls were the last attempt to save democracy. “I appeal to party workers and those who have voted for us to guard the EVMs as the sentinels of democracy for three days.”

Responding to the statement of Kaushal Raj Sharma, District Magistrate (DM), Varanasi, that the truck that was stopped had EVMs meant for training purposes ahead of counting and were not used for polling, Mr. Yadav stated that if the administration was not in the wrong, why the people who were driving the trucks tried to escape. “Suspicious movement of three trucks was noticed. Only one was caught, the other two escaped.” Ballot papers were recovered from Sonbhadra district, he claimed.

Appeal to ECI

According to rules, Mr. Yadav said, even reserved EVMs should move under security cover and candidates should be informed about the movement. He appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take note of the violation and take immediate action against the Varanasi DM.

Predicting 300 seats for the SP alliance, he said, sources in the government had told him that a deliberate attempt would be made to slow down the counting.

The involvement of SBSP workers suggested that the EVMs were of the Shivpur seat of Varanasi from where the son of SBSP chief, Arvind Rajbhar, was contesting.

‘DM role questionable’

Mr. Om Prakash Rajbhar said the month-long farmers’ agitation would not go in vain. The role of the Varanasi DM had been questionable even during the nomination process. “It is clear that the stray bull has grazed on the BJP’s votes. Baba ji [Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath] will have to return to temple on March 10.”

Earlier, SP president Naresh Uttam Patel wrote to the ECI, requesting it to put mobile phone jammers at the counting centres to minimise the chances of foul play.

Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said, “We are confident of our victory. Exit polls have never been exact.” In Bengal, Mr. Gandhi said most exit polls were predicting a clean sweep for the BJP but results proved them wrong. “Such polls are dictated by the BJP headquarters in Delhi with some ulterior motives,” he added. The party had trained counting agents and had told them every rule in the book to ensure that there was no foul play. “We are sending two advocates to every Assembly seat counting centre.”

‘Under the pressure of bulldozers’

Talking to reporters, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Chaudhary Jayant Singh said exit polls presented a point of view that they didn’t subscribe to. “How will the voter give the right response to observers of exit polls when he is living under the pressure of bulldozers,” he said. It was a ploy to break the confidence of party workers and that the alliance would form the government, he said.

In a tweet in Hindi, he stated, “What will the exit polls will do, when the Koko has flown away with votes.” First referred to by Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait after the first round of polls, Koko is an imaginary bird used which is used by elders in rural areas when they have to hide something from children. Mr. Singh asked the party workers to keep patience and help in peaceful counting.

Bharatiya Kisan Union media in charge Dharmendra Malik also expressed surprise at the exit poll results. “Some of the results suggest that there was the impact of farmers’ agitation on the ground in the first phase, which is far from reality. We have told farmers to keep an eye on the strong rooms,” he said.