LUCKNOW – Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, on Tuesday, alleged that a top official in the Chief Minister’s secretariat was telephoning District Magistrates across Uttar Pradesh and asking them to slow down the counting process on Thursday if the Bharatiya Janata Party is losing.

Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference here, he alleged that this was being done especially for 47 seats that BJP had won with a margin of less than 5,000 votes in 2017.

He said that a truck carrying EVMs had been intercepted by party workers in Varanasi while two other trucks managed to speed away.

“If the EVMs were being moved, then the candidates concerned should have been informed as per the Election Commission guidelines. We have videos to prove what we are saying,” he stated.

The SP chief said that ballots had been found in Bareilly and Sonbhadra.

Akhilesh Yadav further said that the exit polls were done in a particular manner to create a perception that the BJP is winning so that they can indulge in malpractices during counting.

He appealed to his party workers and “honest officers and journalists” to keep a vigil on strong rooms where EVMs have been kept.

“If farmers can stay in one place for a year, why can’t we stay for the next three days in one place. This is the last chance to save democracy, to save your vote. If this chance is gone, then we will have to launch a movement to save democracy,” he stated.