Ahead of polls, NCP chief Sharad Pawar calls meeting of opposition leaders

NEW DELHI, (PTI): Amid talks of opposition unity in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has invited leaders of various opposition parties here on Thursday 23 to discuss issues of common interest and efficacy of EVMs.

Sources said the meeting will take place at 6 pm.

Pawar has held that in the interest of free and fair elections, electronic voting machines (EVMs) need to be accurate and any doubts over their efficacy must be addressed by the Chief Election Commissioner.

Experts have said that any machine with a chip inside can be hacked and we cannot allow democracy to be hijacked by unscrupulous elements. Therefore, in the interest of free and fair elections, we must sit together and listen to the views expressed by eminent IT professionals and cryptographers, Pawar said in his letter to the opposition leaders. Leaders of several opposition parties are likely to attend the meeting keeping in view Pawar’s stature.

The meeting comes in the wake of several efforts being made to bring unity in opposition ranks to help take on the BJP together.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Telangana Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao have made some efforts in this direction in the recent past.

The Congress has been maintaining that there can be no opposition alliance without it as the party has a national spread. (PTI)