After faring badly in the Hamirpur assembly by-election, BSP president Mayawati on Friday alleged "misuse of EVMs by the BJP" and urged her party workers not to get disheartened by the poll debacle. BJP candidate Yuvraj Singh won the bypoll by a margin of over 17,846 votes, defeating his nearest rival Samajwadi Party candidate Manoj Prajapati. Singh secured 74,374 votes, while Prajapati got 56,528 votes, and BSP's Naushad Ali came third with 28,790 votes, the Election Commission said.

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Mayawati alleges misuse of EVMs

"The pattern of BJP's design to influence poll results by misusing EVMs continued in the by-election in Hamirpur, as all know that their voters did not come out because of rain. Had their intention been clear they would have got bypolls conducted on all the 12 seats in one go," Mayawati tweeted.

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"A close watch needs to be kept on EVMs," she said. She also claimed that the BSP has been pushed to third position because of "rigging and now there is a conspiracy to bring down the morale of the party" in the assembly by-elections on 11 other seats.

"The BSP will definitely give a befitting reply to this planned conspiracy with the cooperation of people," she said, urging BSP workers "not to get disheartened by the result".

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Hamirpur bypolls

The party workers have to work more diligently for next month's assembly by-elections "so that such conspiracies are thwarted," she said. The by-election in the Hamirpur seat, held on September 23, was necessitated due to the disqualification of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel following his conviction in a murder case. Nine candidates, including the Congress's Hardeepak Nishad were in the poll fray.

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