Vijayawada: Chief Minister and TD supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that YSRC leaders and workers had created chaos in the polling booths ad the Election Commission and police miserably failed in stopping them.
He expressed displeasure over the malfunctioning of EVMs at various places and said people were being asked to come later to vote.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote along with his family members, Mr Naidu said polling was delayed at several places as the EVMs were not functioning. He said that an EVM did not work where Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi went to cast his vote.
Mr Naidu said at least now, the Election Commission should review its stand on EVMs. “We have been saying for long that there is scope for technical problems and manipulation in EVMs. Even technologically advanced countries are using ballot papers,” the TD chief said.
He said 22 political parties had demanded that at least VVPAT slips be counted. He did not agree with the Election Commission that counting of all VVPAT slips would six days. Mr Naidu said they were planning to file a review petition for counting of at least 25 per cent of VVPAT slips.
The Supreme Court has ordered the counting VVPAT slips from five booths in each Lok Sabha constituency based on a petition filed by Mr Naidu.
Mr Naidu alleged that police did not take any action on YSRC workers who attacked Speaker Kodela Siva Prasad Rao. He condemned the murder of TD leader Siddha Bhaskar Reddy by YSRC activists and demanded the arrest of the culprits. He asked TD leaders and workers to be alert as YSRC workers may attack them at any time.
