Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was due in Kolkata on Tuesday evening for talks with Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal. They were expected to discuss, and set in motion, a large campaign questioning whether Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be trusted.

The visit

Thackeray’s personal assistant, Harshal Deshpande, said the MNS chief would reach Kolkata that evening, had official engagements the following day, and was scheduled to meet “Didi” on August 1. A senior Trinamool Congress MLA welcomed the visit and said the talks with the Chief Minister would cover a range of political issues, the EVM controversy among them.

A campaign against EVMs

Thackeray has asked that paper ballots be used in the coming Maharashtra assembly election. He has been meeting leaders who have publicly questioned the reliability of EVMs, with the aim of building a national platform on the issue. He recently met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and raised the controversies surrounding the machines with her.

The MNS has planned protests against the present voting method on August 9, and has threatened to stay away from the assembly polls over alleged tampering with EVMs.

Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly and strongly questioned the credibility of EVMs and has called for a fact-finding committee to examine the matter. At a recent press conference at the state secretariat, Nabanna, she said political leaders had raised concerns about the machines several times, wondered whether some of them had been programmed to benefit the BJP, and asked all Opposition leaders to press for such a committee. She also said, “In Bengal we will hold the Municipality elections through ballot papers.”

What happened next

The Maharashtra assembly election that Thackeray referred to was held in 2019. The BJP won 105 of the 288 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44. After the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke down, Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena became Chief Minister in November 2019 with the support of the NCP and the Congress.

See also: Elections and more election news.

Originally published on 30 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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