Akhilesh says he will not trust EVMs even if he wins all 80 seats in UP

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said he will not trust EVMs even if he wins all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Yadav said the INDIA alliance will do away with EVMs when it comes to power.

“When the Model Code of Conduct was imposed, the government and the commission were favouring some people. I do not want to go into details. Somewhere a question has been raised on that institution as well,” Yadav said in an apparent reference to the Election Commission.

“I did not trust EVMs yesterday, I don’t trust them today. And even if I win all 80 seats, I will not trust EVMs,” he said.

“... the issue of EVMs is not dead, and we Samajwadis will remain adamant on it,” Yadav added.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla later said it would be better if questions were not raised on the impartiality of the Election Commission.

Yadav on Tuesday said the 2024 Lok Sabha polls marked the end of communal politics in India, and were a moral victory for the INDIA bloc. He also said that the BJP’s defeat in the Faizabad seat of Ayodhya, where the Ram temple has been built, shows the wisdom of voters.

“This election is a new era of positive politics, pro-Constitution people have won, the Constitution has won... It is the end of top-down politics,”

he said.