'SP won 304 seats in ballot paper counting, BJP 99': Swami Prasad Maurya alleges EVM tampering

He was among BJP turncoats who lost

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R  Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, on Monday, alleged foul play by the BJP in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh polls, suggesting that the saffron party may have tampered with electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Maurya, a former minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, who switched over to the SP before the assembly polls, took to social media to say that his party won 304 seats in the ballot paper counting.

"In ballot paper voting, Samajwadi Party has won 304 seats, while BJP only 99. However, the BJP won the election in EVM count, this means some big game has happened," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

The BJP and its alliance partners won 273 of the 403 assembly seats while the Samajwadi Party-led coalition had bagged 125 seats in the elections. Maurya was among the BJP turncoats who lost the polls.

Maurya lost from Fazil Nagar seat in Kushinagar to his BJP rival Surendra Kumar Kushwaha who polled 1.16 lakh votes.

Maurya, a prominent OBC leader, had joined the SP with six other BJP MLAs, including rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini, and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary.

Maurya's exit was perceived as a big jolt to the saffron party ahead of polls considering his influence among the non-Yadav OBCs in the state.