EVMs 100% Hackable, Ballot Papers Must: Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam supremo Chandrababu Naidu today said that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were 100% hackable.

Chairing a Telugu Desam Party MPs' meeting at Undavalli near Vijayawada, Naidu asked them to oppose the use of the EVMs in future elections.

Naidu also took exception to the Election Commission denying the desire of the majority of political parties to avoid EVMs.

"Let us fight for 100% counting of VVPATs and oppose pure-EVM-output in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The TDP MPs should also fight for using ballot papers in place of EVMs in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls," Naidu said.

He also asked his MPs to press the Centre for a vote-on-account budget.

The CM then moved on to speaking about his perception that injustice was done to the state during the past four-and-a-half years and that the the Centre was ignoring its bifurcation promises. He sought to know why the Centre had denied the state the Rs 24,350 crore recommended by Niti Ayog and had given it only Rs 1,050 crore, and why it had taken back the Rs 350 crore meant for developing seven backward districts.

Naidu also said that the AP government had spent Rs 10,499 crore on the Polavaram project, and that the Centre was still to reimburse Rs 3,722 crore. The Polavaram project bills were not being paid for four weeks, he said. He also alleged that the Centre was not responding to the state's DPRs for Rs 57,940 crore, requests for Rs 1,000 crore for the capital city development, and drainage system funds for Vijayawada and Guntur.

He directed his MPs to raise their voices in the upcoming budget session of Parliament on these issues, and mount pressure on the Centre on all the bifurcation promises.