New Delhi: With the Assembly poll results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh out the murmurs about EVM tampering have been rather muted. After the poll results, it is understood that none of the political parties or leaders have so far approached the Election Commission of India on ths issue of EVM tampering.
However, some questions were raised regarding the functioning of the devices by the prominent leader of the Patidar community, Hardik Patel, in Gujarat on Monday.
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel alleged the tampering of EVMs or Electronic Voting Machines today as the BJP headed towards its fifth straight term in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
The 23-year-old Patidar campaign leader said the Congress and all opposition parties should unite against the machines, which, he said, were responsible for false results in at least a dozen seats.
“EVMs decide our country’s future...If ATMs can be hacked, why can’t EVMs?” Hardik Patel said, stressing that India should go back to ballot papers for voting, the way it is done in many other countries.
“If we can make changes in a calculator or human body, then EVM is also a machine.”
Despite repeated assurances from the Election Commission of India there had been talks of rigging by some opposition parties.
The controversy grew so much that even Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti had to assure that there can be no EVM tampering.
This morning, Joti ruled out any tampering of the machines, saying the paper trail ensured there was no scope for manipulating the process.
“VVPATs were there in every polling stations in Gujarat, which enabled voters to see who they voted for, so issues being raised aren’t right. I assure that EVMS cannot be tampered with,” said the top election officer.
