Prakash Ambedkar-led VBA announces anti-EVM stir; signature campaign from Dec 3

Mumbai, Dec 2 (PTI) Former MP Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) on Monday announced the launch of a Maharashtra-wide agitation against the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

In the first phase of the agitation, the VBA will on December 3 start a signature campaign against the use of these machines in elections, and the stir will continue till December 16, said the party.

The decision to launch the anti-EVM agitation was taken at the VBA's state executive meeting held in Pune on Sunday, ten days after the state assembly election results which saw the ruling Mahayuti romping home with a landslide majority.

The regional outfit led by Ambedkar, the grandson of social reformer B R Ambedkar, failed to open its account in the November 20 polls.

The VBA warned to intensify its agitation against the EVMs in a phased manner.

The debacle of opposition parties in the Maharashtra polls rekindled the old debate on the credibility and reliability of the EVMs with some rivals of the BJP calling for a return to traditional ballot papers. PTI KK RSY