Satish Chandra Misra (BSP) said there was a need to look

seriously into the defection of members from one political party to another.

Citing the example of Telangana, he said two members of his party defected and were made ministers.

On EVMs, he said various countries like Germany, US, Ireland and Japan have stopped using such machines while they were being used in India.

He said even if there was a one per cent chance that the machines could be tinkered with, "we have a right to demand" that elections be held using paper ballots. "Even if there is one per cent chance of tinkering with the EVMs, it is not a free and fare election."

"People are screaming on the streets. They have been cheated. Fraud has been done with them via EVMs," he said.

Misra's charge led to heated exchanges between the ruling party and the Opposition as he also charged the government for not using the VVPAT machines during the UP elections.

"In Goa, these (VVPAT) machines were used in all the assembly seats. There your (BJP) tally has come down from 21 to 13," he said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)