With just five days left for the polling in Nandyal by-elections, YSR Congress party has come out with a new allegation saying the TDP is trying to intimidate voters taking advantage of the new mechanism introduced in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
YSRC legislator Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said the TDP was unleashing false propaganda by spreading fear psychosis among the voters stating that every vote cast by EVMs will be recorded and the details can be known through VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) system attached to polling boxes.
“This is nothing but terrorizing the people, saying that the TDP can track the voting pattern, so that it can identify those who do note for it and they would have to face a severe backlash after the election results,” Reddy said.
He said it was a false propaganda as the VVPAT is aimed at showing the voter that the vote is cast. This was done after political parties had complained the existing of faulty EVMs. The VVPATs are machines attached to EVMs and through a window the voter can see the symbol and name of the party and candidate he or she intends to vote and this cannot go public as the slip coming out after the beep is not accessible to the party leaders, he said.
TDP is unleashing this cheap trick to terrorise the public and to create a scare among them to vote against the ruling party but the fact remains that the vote remains a secret and the details cannot be obtained by political parties, he said.
Reddy reminded that the Chief Minister had already indicated that those who do not vote for the TDP cannot use the public utilities.
“We have complained to the Election Commission of the intent of the TDP much earlier. Voters don’t have to worry, as the voting is secret and sacred and no one will know to whom one has voted,” he said.
