Smarting from the crushing loss in Maharashtra, months after the Haryana debacle, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge today protested against the use of voting machines or EVMs and suggested a return to ballot paper.

“We should all unite and move forward together and push them aside. I do not wish to speak about elections, but I would surely say the votes of all the poor and oppressed communities are going to waste. They should all demand voting by ballot paper,” the 82-year-old Congress chief said speaking at the ‘Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan’ function at Talkatora stadium in Delhi.

“Let them keep EVMs with them. We don’t want EVMs, we want voting on ballot paper. Then they will know what their position is and where they stand,” he said referring to the BJP.

The demand comes on the same day the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to go back to ballot paper voting in elections in the country, saying allegations of tampering with voting machines is raked up only when people lose polls.

Mr Kharge also called for a campaign on the scale of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra for return to the ballot paper.

“From our party, we should start this campaign to make everyone aware that they should want ballot paper back. We will speak to other political parties also,” Mr Kharge said, urging Rahul Gandhi to launch a movement.

“We should start a campaign like Bharat Jodo Yatra to bring back the ballot paper,” he stressed.

Earlier today, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress chief Nana Patole refused to accept the Maharashtra Assembly election results, saying that the “EVM issue” is not being taken seriously.

The Congress managed to win just 16 seats in the Maharashtra polls, while the BJP scooped up 132 seats, emerging the single largest party and is set to form the government. 

“Whatever election results have come, they are not acceptable to anyone, not even to the people of Maharashtra,” Mr Patole told news agency ANI.

Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 57 seats while Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena faction secured 20 seats. Veteran leader Sharad Pawar’s party managed to win only 10 seats while his nephew Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Parry won 41 seats. 

“So we have brainstormed on this issue and if you see social media in Maharashtra today, the public says that the government has not come with our votes, so the Congress party has always respected the sentiments of the public,” he told the news agency.

He said that no one is listening to the problems raised by the people of alleged mismatch of votes, leaving a mass movement to be the only option left for them.

“No one is listening on this (EVM issue), we also went to the Supreme Court, they said to prove it. Public sentiment says that we give our vote to X but it is being marked in the name of Y, so no one is listening to the problems. So it seems except a mass movement there is no other way,” he added.

In the Haryana state polls in October, which the Congress was widely expected to win, but did not, the party had alleged tampering of EVMs in some seats where machines with varying battery strength gave out different results.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had underlined that the voting machines are safe and robust, questioning if there is any example anywhere in the country where there is so much thrust on disclosure and participation.

The EVMs are not connected, hence they can’t be hacked into, the top poll officer had explained.