'No Point In Net Practising If Match Already Fixed', Says Raj Thackeray After Meeting EC On EVM

Thackeray said he has submitted a letter to the Election Commission, demanding it to switch back to the traditional paper ballot. He termed the meeting "mere formality".

New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray leaves after meeting the Chief Election Commissioner, in New Delhi, Monday, July 8, 2019. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: In his first visit to the national capital in 14 years, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray today met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and demanded that the Assembly polls in Maharashtra be conducted through paper ballots instead of Electronic Voting Machines. Assembly elections are likely to take place in October this year Thackeray said he has submitted a letter to the Election Commission, demanding it to switch back to the traditional paper ballot. He termed the meeting "mere formality". "There are doubts in the minds of voters that the votes they cast do not go to their chosen candidates. In such a scenario, the Election Commission should switch back to paper ballots and conduct the Maharashtra state polls through it. We strongly feel that the EVMs can be tampered with," Thackeray told reporters after the meeting. Thackeray also cited media reports which stated that there was a difference in the tally between the votes cast and votes counted in nearly 220 Lok Sabha constituencies. "This gave rise to suspicion in our minds. The doubts over credibility of the EVMs further increased when the Election Commission removed this data from the its website," he said in the letter. He also sought to know how secure are the Public Sector Undertakings -- Bharat Electronic Ltd and Electronic Corporation of India -- which manufacture the EVMs. Taking a dig at the ruling government, Thackeray said “if the match is already fixed then there’s no point doing net practice.” Two days ago, his party came out in support of Nitesh Rane, son of former chief minister Narayan Rane, who threw mud on a PWD engineer. “We take such actions to make sure things change. If the officers do their jobs properly, we there's no requirement of such things. But because they don’t work properly, as public representatives, we are forced to take action. In that context, we have declared our support to Nitesh Rane,” his party said. The MNS did not contest the Lok Sabha polls but Thackeray had run an aggressive campaign against the Narendra Modi government. The party contested the 2009 and 2014 Assembly polls in which its tally came down drastically from 13 to one. Thackeray is likely to meet top leaders in Delhi today. (With additional information from PTI)