Patna, July 05: Over a month after the reverses in Lok Sabha polls, the opposition RJD on Sunday urged the Election Commission to inquire into allegations about ‘largescale tampering’ of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) by ruling NDA in Bihar.
“The EC must take the complaints of large-scale tampering of the EVMs seriously and set up an inquiry team to examine,” former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and senior RJD leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan told reporters after participating in the party’s 13th foundation day function.
Devi, leader of opposition in state assembly, said a party delegation would soon meet the Chief Election Commissioner in New Delhi seeking a probe. The ruling NDA had “misused the state machinery to the hilt to manipulate the results,” she said.
“The returning officers too played the role of agents of the ruling alliance,” Khan said and called for an “independent probe to bring the facts to light”.
Earlier addressing the foundation day function at the party office, Devi demanded restoration of the old system of voting.
“We feel the old system of voting was good enough and instead of the EVMs, the tampering of which is quite possible despite the claims of their being tamper-proof, the ballot papers should be used for greater transparency,” she said.
Khan, a senior minister in the erstwhile Lalu-Rabri cabinet, alleged ‘gross violations’ of norms laid down by the Election Commission towards deployment of security personnel at the polling centres.
“We will be taking up all these issues with the EC”, he said.
Devi said the Nitish Kumar government failed on all fronts in Bihar.
“There is no development worth seen in Bihar. All the reports being highlighted in the media about the government’s effort to ensure all-round growth is farcical”, she said.
“Anarchy and chaos prevail everywhere with rampant cases of loot, murder and abduction, while corruption in central/state schemes have become rampant”, she said and questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s claim of freeing Bihar from “crime and corruption.”
–Agencies