Slip that comes out of EVM must be given to voters: Bhupesh Baghel

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 27 : Amid Congress party's demand of holding elections using ballot papers, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel demanded that the slip that comes after the casting of vote should be given to the voters.
Claiming that "serious questions" are being raised on EVMs, he termed the election results in Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra 'unacceptable'.
"Serious questions are being raised on EVMs. We demand that the slip that comes out of the EVM after a voter casts the vote should be given to the voter itself. Neither the Election Commission of India nor the Supreme Court of India should have any problem with it...The election results of Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra are not acceptable," Baghel told reporters on Wednesday.
This comes in the wake of the Congress party's crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly election, where the Mahayuti alliance swept to power in a landslide victory with the BJP emerging as the biggest winner with 132 seats out of 280 member Maharashtra assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
While the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) managed to secure only 46 seats, with the Congress getting just 16.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the replacement of EVMs with ballot papers, alleging that votes from "SC, ST, OBC, and poor communities are being wasted."
"Votes of people from SC, ST, OBC, poor communities are being wasted. Set aside EVMs. We do not want EVMs; we want voting on ballot paper...Let them keep the machine at their home, at the home of PM Modi or Amit Shah...Then we would know where you (BJP-NDA) stand," Mallikarjun Kharge said while speaking at the Constitution Day program at Talkatora Stadium here.
Following this, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sambit Patra lashed out at the Congress party for questioning EVMs and said that the party has been sidelined by the people.
"Yesterday (November 26) was Constitution Day, and on the occasion of Constitution Day, Mallikarjun Kharge said we have to remove EVMs and bring back ballot papers. Mallikarjun Kharge ji, whether you remove EVMs or not, the public has sidelined the Congress. Congress has been sidelined in the elections of almost every state. In Maharashtra, it has been completely wiped out. On one hand, the Mahayuti has won a huge victory in Maharashtra, while on the other hand, the Congress has been wiped out," said the BJP MP.
"I was very surprised that a senior leader like Mallikarjun Kharge ji said yesterday that the votes of SC-ST-OBC and poor people are getting wasted due to EVM. Does Mallikarjun Kharge ji and the people of the Congress party think that the SC-ST-OBC community is so illiterate that they do not know how to vote in EVM? Such thinking of Congress is an insult to the SC-ST-OBC community..." he added further.