Chandigarh-A delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar met the Punjab State Election Commissioner today and demanded that the decision to conduct local body elections through ballot papers instead of EVMs be reversed. Executive President Ashwani Sharma, senior leaders Vijay Sampla, Som Prakash, Manoranjan Kalia, Avinash Rai Khanna, Rakesh Rathore and Vineet Joshi were also present on the occasion.
Speaking to the media, Sunil Jakhar said that the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, in collusion with the State Election Commissioner, has introduced this rule as part of a conspiracy to manipulate local body elections just as it allegedly did in Panchayati Raj institution elections. He said that local body elections have traditionally been conducted using EVM machines, but after the announcement of elections, the Election Commission, allegedly acting under government directions, suddenly decided overnight to conduct the elections through ballot papers instead.
He further stated that it has always been a convention to hold meetings with all political parties before elections, but this time no such consultation was carried out. Moreover, the then Local Bodies Minister had recently stated that voting would take place through EVMs, but the AAP government, foreseeing its defeat, changed the decision so that manipulation could take place during vote counting and elections could be “looted” by undermining democracy.
The BJP President also said that during the Panchayati Raj institution elections, the viral audio call involving a police officer in Patiala had already exposed how the AAP government allegedly manipulated those elections, and now the same strategy is being prepared for the local body elections. He asserted that the BJP would strongly oppose this. He also alleged that reserved wards were being changed until yesterday, many people were unable to access voter lists, and serious irregularities had taken place in ward delimitation as well.
Sunil Jakhar urged the Election Commissioner to immediately reverse the decision in order to maintain neutrality and to conduct polling through EVMs in accordance with established practices, rules, and the directions issued from time to time by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.