Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav at Parliament during the Budget Session, in New Delhi.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) will win the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections by a huge majority and then 'samajwadi people' will work towards abolishing the electronic voting system, party president Akhilesh Yadav claimed on Thursday.
"On EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines), I still say that no one trusts them. Recently in the USA, the polls were conducted on ballot papers, and counting took several days. People trust only ballot papers, but this fight cannot be fought right now," the SP chief said in Jhansi when asked about his views on EVMs.
"We are preparing for the assembly polls through training camps. At least if all SP workers cast their votes, BJP will be defeated. And when SP government is formed, 'samajwadis' will be the first to discard EVMs," he said, addressing a press conference.
Yadav, however, did not elaborate on how he will convince the Election Commission to do away with the system.
Replying to another question, the SP chief said, "In UP, the situation will not be like Bihar assembly polls. In Bihar, the grand alliance government was going to be formed, but BJP did not let it happen. In UP, the BJP will taste defeat by a huge margin. The SP will win 350 seats (of a total 403 seats)."
Asked about Yogi Adityanath's remark on colourful caps worn by Opposition MLAs in the Assembly, Yadav said, "We never told those having black hearts to wear black caps. The red colour of our cap is of revolution and our blood and emotions, but our CM does not have the sentiments."
Taking a dig at the Opposition in the Assembly recently, Adityanath had said the House should not be taken lightly as a "drama company" with some members sporting caps in red, some blue, some yellow or even green.
In an obvious reference to the SP members who wear red caps, Adityanath recalled that he had once been to village school when a child called a politician sporting a cap as "goonda" (hooligan).
Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the chief minister over his remarks, saying the "tone and tenor of his language has changed". He alleged the BJP government forcible passed the agri laws in the Rajya Sabha despite the fact that it did not have majority there.
"BJP wants to kill democracy. In UP also, in the Legislative Council, where SP has majority, the government ignored it and got the bills passed there," he said. The SP chief is in Jhansi for a training camp organised for party workers.
