The Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav while speaking in the lower house of the parliament, mocked at the ruling party over several categories.
No Trust On EVM
Even if Akhilesh Yadav were to win every one of Uttar Pradesh’s 80 Lok Sabha seats, he would still be reluctant to overcome his mistrust of EVMs, or electronic voting machines.
“I did not trust EVMs yesterday, I don’t trust them today. Even if I win all 80 seats in UP, I still will not trust EVMs. This will always be an issue,” the ex-UP Chief Minister said, “We (Mr Yadav’s Samajwadi Party) will remain adamant on this… if we win with EVMs we will still remove it.”
“This will never be resolved till use of EVM is stopped… and we are determined to do so,” he said in Parliament, replying to the Motion of Thanks on President Droupadi Murmu’s address last week.
#WATCH | On EVMs, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav says,”…EVM pe mujhe kal bhi bharosa nahi tha, aaj bhi nahi hai bharosa, mein 80/80 seats jeet jaun tab bhi nahi bharosa…The issue of EVM has not died” pic.twitter.com/UJIS6hBGQt
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2024
The Supreme Court rendered a decision on petitions filed in the middle of the 2024 Lok Sabha election in response to the opposition’s concerns about electronic voting machines (EVMs) and their potential for hacking and/or vote manipulation. In the end, the court rejected a plea asking for a paper cross-check of every vote.
But opposition politicians, Mr Yadav foremost among them, who questioned the technology remained unmoved. He also brought up similar issues during the UP state election of 2022.
In the course of that election, Mr. Yadav also charged the BJP of attempting to rig the results, mentioning in particular purportedly unlawful acts in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha seat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Additionally, the leader of the SP stated that EVMs, or “those machines,” “have created a feeling of distrust in the minds of the people” in December, a few weeks before the Lok Sabha election.
He used the US presidential election as an example, which is conducted using paper ballots.
“Months are spent on counting in the most powerful country in the world, India, where over 140 crore people determine the destiny of their nation. He had questioned, “Why do you want results in three hours?”
Last month, the opposition’s allegations over the use of EVMs received an unanticipated boost when Elon Musk, the owner of X (previously Twitter), responded to a post made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, reporting problems in polling in Puerto Rico.
Paper Leak Mafia
“The achievement of the past 10 years is the birth of a competitive exams mafia. A youngster would prepare for the exam and take it, and then come to know that the paper was leaked. Papers of all exams were leaked. And now on June, the paper of the country’s most prestigious exam was leaked,” he said.
Mr. Yadav was alluding to the anomalies pertaining to the National Eligibility and Entrance Test, which have incited protests across the country.
What’s causing the papers to leak? He claimed, “The government is orchestrating these leaks because it is unwilling to provide jobs.”
#WATCH | Speaking on the paper leaks issue in Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav says,” Why are paper leaks happening? The truth is that this is being done by the government so that it doesn’t have to give jobs to youth.” pic.twitter.com/9EC1y8kUgi
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2024
