The Opposition has decided to raise the issue of using electronic voting machine (EVM) at the daylong 7th Regional Consultation for Electoral Reforms here tomorrow. The regional consultation, organised by the Centre and the Election Commission on how to strengthen the electoral system, will be held at NEDFi House here.
The AGP and the BJP will make a strong case for its outright abolition at a gathering which would include Union law minister Veerappa Moily and chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi.
… AGP’s Arun Sarma … said they want the EVMs replaced as anything “manmade” can be “tampered with”.
“In fact, we need a separate discussion on EVM as it has been discarded in developed countries. If the Congress can forecast who will be winning, we have reasons to believe something is amiss vis-à-vis the EVM,” he said.
In the just-concluded Assembly polls, the Congress won 78 of the 126 seats.
The AIUDF got 18, AGP 10 and BJP five, triggering allegations about EVM tampering.
The Congress, on the other hand, dismissed the allegation by pointing to the poll defeats of the ruling parties in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Like Sarma, BJP president Ranjit Dutta has also decided to seek the abolition of the EVM to “save” democracy. “But we have not received any invitation so far,” Dutta said.
Full Article: Opp to raise EVM issue.