Amid EVM debate, HP CM Sukhu vouches for return to ballot papers

shimla: Looking to celebrate his two years at the helm of the Himachal Pradesh government in Bilaspur — for which a mega event has been proposed next month — Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, however, seems to have lost faith in the EVMs despite his party having won 40 seats in the 68-member state Assembly in 2022.

Two days after the BJP-led Mahayuti wave swept Maharashtra, Sukhu vouched for ballot papers over electronic voting machines (EVM). “Elections should be held using ballot papers to clear doubts over the functioning of EVMs as technology can be hacked,” he said.

Hours before he flew to Delhi on Tuesday, the CM said: “The EVM manufacturers have closed production. There is doubt over their functioning. The elections should be held using ballot papers on the demand of the public at large.”

In Maharashtra, the Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats, while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) got only 46 seats in what has been termed as one of the worst performances. Sukhu’s outburst against the EVMs after the party’s back-to-back losses were bound to happen as he had also campaigned in Maharashtra, where BJP had raised the issue of Congress failing to deliver on its guarantees in Himachal.

Joining him to toe the party line, Himachal Congress president Pratibha Singh added: “The issue has been raised multiple times. Concerns about tampering with EVMs have been brought up on several occasions. It is the Election Commission’s responsibility to address it.”

Former CM Jairam Thakur hit back at them, saying: “The reason for Congress’s defeat is not EVM but anti-people and anti-development thinking. The Congress has been defeated in this election by the people of the state, not EVM.”