State Election Commissioner SK Srivastava on March 14 rejected Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request of a paper ballot and said that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in the upcoming municipal corporation elections in the national capital.
“EVMs will be used in the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Delhi,” said SK Srivastava, State Election Commissioner, while announcing the date of the elections in New Delhi.
The polls will be held on April 22 and the results will be announced on April 25, EC official told media persons.
Earlier in the day, Aam Aadmi Party patron Arvind Kejriwal had asked the State Election Commission to conduct the upcoming civic polls through ballot paper instead of EVMs. Kejriwal’s this demand came amid allegations by some political leaders, including BSP supremo Mayawati, that the EVMs were tampered with in the recently concluded assembly polls.
Besides Kejriwal, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken also wrote to the Commission over the matter. Maken took to Twitter and wrote: “Many are doubting EVMs. Not prejudiced-nor casting aspersions on results. I want Arvind Kejriwal to hold MCD elections through ballot papers.”
Delhi is divided into three regions—east, north and south Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in all the three municipal corporations. In last civic polls, BJP overwhelmingly defeated Congress but this time, the saffron party would face a major rival in Aam Aadmi Party that stormed to power in 2015. Meanwhile, BJP has decided to not field any sitting candidate in what is seen as an attempt by the party to beat anti-incumbency factor.
