Why hold Maha local body polls if VVPATs not used: Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday attacked the central government, and questioned the point in holding elections to local civic bodies in Maharashtra without using electronic voting machines which have voter verifiable paper audit trail facility.

“We know about the special intensive revision of voter lists in Bihar. Is an undeclared CAA-NRC being implemented in the country? The Election Commission is making voters prove their identity despite being on the voters list. In Maharashtra, the Election Commission said that VVPAT will not be used during local body elections. So why hold elections? After all, we must know where the votes are going,” he said.

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It may be recalled that on Tuesday, Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare stated that elections to local civic bodies in the state will be held without Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). Waghmare said that elections to municipal corporations, zilla parishads and village councils in Maharashtra will be held in phases after Diwali, by the end of October, during a press conference.

In a related development, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has demanded that elections to local civic bodies in Maharashtra should be held using traditional ballot papers if VVPAT machines are not available. The party has also threatened to challenge the election procedure in the Supreme Court if VVPATs are not used to conduct local civic body polls.

“Work related to the forthcoming elections to local civic bodies has begun. The Maharashtra State Election Commission has made a shocking decision not to use VVPAT, creating a conducive situation for electoral malpractices. It has cited insufficient availability of VVPAT machines as the reason,” Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s Pune chief Prashant Jagtap said.

“Parliament has not passed any law mandating the use of EVMs in elections other than assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections. If there are not enough VVPAT machines available to conduct the elections, the question that arises is why do they insist on using EVMs” Jagtap said.

Jagtap said that if VVPAT is not used to conduct the local civic body elections, then it should be conducted using ballot papers. “Otherwise, our party will challenge this procedure in the Supreme Court,” Jagtap said.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP leader Rahul Kalate also criticised the Maharashtra State Election Commission’s statement that EVMs with VVPAT facility will not be used to conduct elections to local civic bodies.

“How will it be known whether elections have been conducted in a transparent manner if VVPAT is not used? If VVPAT machines are not available, then elections to local civic bodies should be conducted using traditional ballot papers. This will ensure transparency and the public’s trust in the electoral system will be maintained,” Sharad Pawar-led NCP leader Rahul Kalate said.

Another regional political outfit of farmers from Maharashtra called Prahar Sanghatna led by former MLA Bachchu Kadu has also condemned the statement of the Maharashtra State Election Commission that EVMs with VVPAT facility will not be used to conduct elections to local civic bodies.