Raj Thackeray to Meet Mamata Banerjee Today in a Bid to Launch Campaign Against EVM Credibility

Kolkata: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray will arrive in Kolkata on Tuesday evening to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The two leaders will discuss and launch a massive campaign against the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).

Speaking to News18 over the telephone Thackeray’s personal assistant, Harshal Deshpande, said, “Shree Raj Thackeray will be reaching Kolkata today in the evening. Tomorrow he is having some official engagements and his meeting with ‘Didi’ (Mamata Banerjee) is scheduled for August 1.”

Raj Thackeray had demanded that ballot papers be used in the upcoming state assembly elections in Maharashtra. To build strong nationwide platform on this issue, he is meeting all the leaders who raised serious doubts over the credibility of EVMs.

Recently, he met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and highlighted the controversies revolving around the use of EVMs.

On August 9, MNS has planned to protests against the current voting method and also threatened to boycott the upcoming Assembly polls over alleged tampering of EVMs.

A senior Trinamool Congress MLA, said, “We welcome Raj Thackeray ji in Kolkata. His meeting with our Chief Minister will be on various political issues including EVM controversy.”

Mamata Banerjee has vehemently opposed the EVMs and raised serious questions over its credibility several times. She has demanded that there should be a fact finding committee to look in to the matter.

Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ recently, she had said, “Unreliability, of EVMs was raised several times by political leaders. Even we believe in this. Why we should not believe that some of the EVMs were not programmed (to benefit the BJP). In some places, EVMs were not functioning (during voting) and it was replaced but did it worked properly? Who knows that it was not programmed? Therefore, I would like to request all the Opposition party leaders to raise demand for a fact finding committee to know the truth.”

“In Bengal we will hold the Municipality elections through ballot papers. We will show the path to rest of the India,” she had said.