Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would stage nationwide protest on Tuesday, to observe first `Black Day’ alleging tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) during the recent concluded Assembly elections both in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The protest will be organised at every district head-quarter on Tuesday but Party is concentration to celebrate Bhim Rao Ambedkar birth anniversary on coming Friday in a big way.
BSP Supremo had already dismissed the assembly election results and said tampering of was responsible for her party’s poor showing. “The BSP workers will organise dharna and demonstrations in lucknow as well as other district headquarters on the 11th of every month to observe March 11, the day of UP election results, as a black day,” the Bahujan Samaj Party chief had earlier said while addressing a press conference here soon after her Party faced humiliating defeat last month.
Mayawati, who expected her Party to grab a substantial share of the votes, blamed EVMs for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) unexpected bumper victory in India’s largest state and shot off a complaint to the Election Commission to cancel the election results. The poll panel, however, wrote to BSP’s national general secretary Satish Misra saying it found no merit in the allegations, and the “prayers made in your letter are not legally tenable”.
Mayawati rejected the EC’s reply on her demand for a probe into EVM tampering and said her party will file a petition in the court on this issue. “BJP leaders are maintaining an ominous silence on my allegations. The BJP won the election through manipulation. The day assembly election results were announced, democracy was virtually murdered. EVMs were tampered to transfer the BSP votes to BJP,” she said while disclosing to organise `Black Day’ on 11 of every month to register her Party’s protest.
She also accused the media of biased reporting and said journalists were virtually writing the obituary of the BSP and saying the BJP’s victory signified the end of her party. “Media persons have seen huge crowds in my public meetings. How can they say it is the end of the road for the BSPIJ They should tell the people how BJP manipulated the election,” she said. The BSP chief also condemned post-poll discussions on election results, saying the power-brokers were singing paeans for the BJP in discussions organised by various channels “for the lust of money”. “I want to make it clear to the media that the BJP did not manipulate election results in smaller states like Punjab, Goa and Manipur as they would have to do a lot of explanation. They tampered EVMs in UP and Uttrakhand. Media should highlight the BJP’s misdeeds,” she said.