Akhilesh questions EVMs, seeks 2019 polls by ballot paper

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said that the people had lost faith in the EVMs after large scale complaints emerged during Monday's Kairana and Noorpur bypolls.

He demanded that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections be conducted through the ballot papers.

''EVMs are a threat to democracy....it will impact people's faith in democracy...the faith can be restored only if polls are held through ballot papers,'' he told reporters.

He also questioned the Election Commission's explanation that the machines might have been affected by the heat.

''If that was the case how come that the machines developed snag only in areas where the Opposition was strong,'' he said.

The SP leader said that he will take up the issue of EVMs with leaders of other Opposition parties and demand that they should not be used for polling any more.

Over 350 EVMs developed snag during the bypolls prompting the Opposition parties to demand re-polling at many polling booths.

Akhilesh also said that he wanted to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but added that a decision to this effect could only be taken by the party.