No EVMs when Samajwadi Party Comes To Power In Uttar Pradesh, Says Akhilesh Yadav

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav has reportedly said that there will be no EVMs when the SP comes to power in UP. Assembly elections will be held in the state in 2022.

In 2017, Yadav had said that said electronic voting machines cannot be relied upon. He had demanded that the conducting of all future elections through ballot papers.

"When will EVMs develop a snag no one can tell ... When will the software fail ... Machines cannot be relied upon. We do not have faith in EVMs. We have 100 per cent faith in our ballot papers and it is our demand that future elections are held using them ... We do not want to go into whether EVMs are good or bad," he was quoted as saying in 2017.

In 2019, he had said that the EVMs were "malfunctioning or voting for the BJP" across the country. He termed it a "criminal negligence".

He was reported as saying in 2019: "EVMs across India malfunctioning or voting for the BJP. DMs say poll officials untrained to operate EVMs. 350 plus being replaced. This is criminal negligence for a polling exercise that costs Rs 50,000 crores."