New Delhi: A delegation led by opposition parties conducted a meeting with the Election commission of India (ECI) on Monday, communicating their disapproval of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), in the wake of an incident in Bhind, where a machine dispensed only the BJP slips no matter what button was pressed.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam nabi Azad demanded the replacement of "EVMs with the paper ballots". "ECI heard from all the parties... and for free and fair elections, the paper ballot should be brought back."
Rajya sabha Member and Senior Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja also attended the meeting, making it clear to the ECI that "the faith in EVMs stands shattered and we should have paper ballots for the future elections."
"ECI has informed us that an all-party meeting will be held on this matter," he said.
Another Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Member Abhishek Singhvi said that the delegation cited several instances where the EVMs malfunctioned.
"Apart from Bhind, we told him about a 29-member family that voted for an independent candidate, but none reflected," he said, adding that there are just 50,000 VVPATs for over 15 lakh EVMs, prompting us to call for the return of paper ballot.
There has been an uproar over the use of EVMs in the electoral process ever since the BSP supremo Mayawati alleged that the EVMs in Uttar Pradesh were tampered with, hours after the BJP registered a mammoth victory in the state.
Mayawati's allegations found resonance with Akhilesh Yadav who suggested a probe into the allegations levelled by her.
Comments
0 comment