New Delhi: Anti-graft activist and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's former mentor Anna Hazare voiced support for the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in elections on Wednesday.
This comes after Kejriwal alleged that EVMs were tampered with in Punjab.
In an interview to TimesNow, Hazare criticised Kejriwal's demand of using ballot papers in elections and said that in a fast-paced world, use of ballot papers in elections is outdated.
“Manual counting of ballot papers take more time compared to counting of votes on EVMs. This is a sheer waste of time and money. On the contrary, EVMs give us accurate numbers within a short span of time,” he added.
Speaking about the importance of totaliser machines, the octogenarian leader said, "In the past, he had written to the Election Commission and the government to procure these machines to use them in counting booths for faster and accurate results."
Kejriwal on Wednesday had alleged that EVMs were tampered with in Punjab, resulting in 20-25 percent of AAP votes getting transferred to the SAD-BJP alliance and thus propping up the Congress to power.
He said there was widespread suspicion that "20 to 25 percent of votes polled in favour of the AAP had been transferred to the Akali Dal-BJP alliance" by tampering the Electronic Voting Machines.
The issue has been raked up BSP chief Mayawati in UP as well. Her claims that EVMs were tampered and it needed to be investigated found support from her rival and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Mayawati alleged that the BJP victory in UP polls smacked of “dishonesty” and “fraud”.
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