Upamanyu Hazarika Demands Ban on EVMs after Election Loss

Guwahati, May 26, 2019:

Upamanyu Hazarika, who was an Independent candidate from Gauhati Lok Sabha Sabha Constituency in Assam in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, has released a press statement days after the result of the election was announced in which he has asked for a complete ban on the use of EVM machines in the election process.

In the statement, Upamanyu Hazarika has said that he is grateful to the people of Guwahati and the people of Assam for giving him the platform to propagate and carry forward critical issues of survival and protection of indigenous people in Assam. Also congratulating the successful candidate from Guwahati, Queen Oja and all other winners from Assam, he said that he hoped that they would raise critical issues of indigenous rights and protection.

However, he expressed his surprise at the number of votes he got - 21,114 out of a total polling of 17,63,757 (which is 1.2% out of the total votes polled). He said that this number is shocking in view of the extensive 40 day campaign with 100s of fellow campaigners across 10 assembly constituencies.

"It is a fact that over 90% of the EVMs will have votes cast in my name showing the large spread of voting but which would largely hover around a range of 1- 10 votes .The widespread of votes across all EVMs but having similar percentage is too uniform to be true", he stated, suggesting foulplay.

The Independent candidate also showed astonishment at the scale and margin of the winning BJP Candidate who got a share of 57% of the votes, which is significantly higher than that of 2014 when there was discernible wave and BJP had polled 50.59% of the votes.

"Winning is one thing but winning with such a huge margin at a time when there was a widespread discontent among the people regarding CAB and related issues, raises significant doubts.", he said.

He also stated that there is a strong doubt and suspicion on the acceptability of EVMs as the medium of voting. While there have been various studies and expert opinions on the EVMs being tamper proof but it also a fact that a large section has also raised questions on the credibility of the EVMs. He has also promised to take the matter to the Election Commission.

"As announced earlier, we are going to pursue our agenda of protecting the rights of indigenous people to the next level by the formation and constitution of a political party through a consultation process with the public and all concerned organisations", he added.

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