Former chief minister and YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday favoured elections to be held in ballot papers and not EVMs. He said several democratic countries in the world were not using EVMs. He said that in almost every advanced democracy, ballot papers are used. He felt that India should also move towards ballot papers in upholding the true spirit of democracy.
He took to social media to express his views on the EVMs. It was for the second time that he expressed doubts over the EVMs, after the 2024 results were out. The YSR Congress, which had won 151 Assembly seats in the 2019 general election had won just 11 Assembly seats in the 2024 general election. The party could not even get the opposition status in the house of 175 MLAs.
Reacting to this, Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted the country to shift to the ballot papers to see that democracy is upheld.
“Just as justice should not only be served, but should also appear to have been served, so should democracy not only prevail but must appear to be prevalent undoubtedly. In electoral practices across the world in almost every advanced democracy, paper ballots are used, not EVMs. We too must move towards the same in upholding the true spirit of our democracy,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said in the social media.
However, his statement attracted sharp criticism from the ruling TDP. Its senior leader and former minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy raised strong objections to Jagan Mohan Reddy’s reactions on the EVMs. He recalled what Jagan Mohan Reddy said in 2019 when he secured 151 Assembly seats. He sought to advise Jagan Mohan Reddy to recall his statement when the results were out in 2019.
“Jagan Mohan Reddy is now talking like Andhra Pradesh Elon Musk. He should recall what he said when the results were out in 2019. He should stop blaming the machines now just because he lost the election,” Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said.
Another senior TDP leader Buddha Venkanna dared Jagan Mohan Reddy to resign and seek reelection at Pulivendula. He said that all political parties would request the election commission to hold the by-election using ballot paper. He dared the former chief minister to win the election with the same majority that he had secured in the recent election.