BJP rigged EVMs for Chandra Shekhar Aazad’s win in 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Mayawati - The Indian Express
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati alleged Monday that the BJP manipulated electronic voting machines (EVMs) to help Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad win the Nagina Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh in 2024.
Speaking ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Mayawati also demanded an immediate end to EVMs and called for a return to ballot papers.
In the 2024 elections, Chandra Shekhar Aazad won the Nagina constituency by defeating BJP candidate Om Kumar by a margin of 1.51 lakh votes. BSP candidate Surendra Pal Singh finished fourth, securing just 1.33 per cent of the total vote share.
Repeating that the BSP has consistently opposed EVMs, Mayawati said her party’s supporters believe their votes are redirected to non-BSP candidates due to machine manipulation, eroding public trust in the electoral process.
28-09-2026 – PRESS NOTE EVM-SIR pic.twitter.com/fSsZx3BHmg
In a press note in Hindi, she said,”A primary example is the Aazad Samaj Party MP (Chandra Shekhar Aazad), who has no base in the Nagina (SC-reserved) constituency. Yet, through a conspiracy specifically aimed at damaging the BSP, the BJP got him elected by manipulating the EVMs, a view shared by local residents there.”
Reacting to Mayawati’s allegations, Chandra Shekhar Aazad said, “I am glad that Behanji has acknowledged Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) as a major force.”
In a Hindi post on X, he said Nagina people elected him in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with 5.12 lakh votes. “Raising questions about the election process and transparency of EVMs is every citizen’s right in a democracy. I myself have consistently demanded maximum transparency and use of ballot papers in the election process. But linking the mandate with which Nagina people elected me as their representative with any conspiracy hurts the sentiments of voters who cast their vote with conscience.”
खैर, बहनजी का लिखित प्रेस नोट कहीं से भी लिखकर आया हो, लेकिन मुझे खुशी इस बात की है कि जो लोग कभी कहते थे, “कौन चंद्रशेखर?”, उन्हें इस…
“Wherever Behanji’s written press note may have come from, I am pleased that those who once used to say, ‘Who is Chandrashekhar?’, have now been shown by the people of this country who Chandrashekhar is—the one who fights for us, the one who struggles on the streets,” he added.
Mayawati said that elections used ballot papers for five decades before the Election Commission introduced EVMs. She recalled that when the Congress was in power at the Centre, the BJP itself had heavily opposed EVMs, arguing that electronic devices with installed chips could easily be hacked.
“The BJP even published a book on the topic and accused the Congress of winning elections by misusing EVMs,” she said. “Because of such security concerns, most countries do not use EVMs and rely on ballot papers instead. BJP leaders previously demanded an end to EVMs, yet it is surprising that after coming to power at the Centre, they continued using them for voting and counting. As far as the BSP is concerned, we have opposed EVM voting from the very beginning.”
The BSP supremo concluded by stating that stopping the use of EVMs and restoring ballot papers is essential to re-establishing voters’ faith in free and fair elections.
Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More
