Opposition party leaders coming out after a meeting in the Parliament Library, ahead of the Monsoon Session. (... Read More

NEW DELHI: With Lok Sabha polls due next year and four state elections coming up in a few months, opposition parties have decided to demand a return to ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs) on the suspicion that the machines are being manipulated on BJP’s behest.

This was decided on Monday after a brief discussion at a meeting of several opposition parties, hosted by Congress and attended by TMC, SP, BSP, DMK, RJD, CPM, CPI and JD(S) among others.

These parties are planning to meet during the monsoon session of Parliament specifically to discuss allegations of EVM tampering and frame their demand that will be put to the Election Commission (EC).

While discussing the EVM issue on Monday, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said it was a serious concern and had caused doubt in the minds of people. He is learnt to have said that 17 countries had ditched EVMs after finding them unreliable.

Citing recent examples, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that in the recent by-elections in Maharashtra, some EVMs which came from Gujarat were “polling” BJP’s symbol no matter which button was pressed. The replacement EVMs showed correct results, a source quoted Pawar as saying.

Another example came from the JD(S) member who said in the Karnataka assembly polls, there were some booths where EVMs were found to be showing normal counts for the first 200 or 300 votes and thereafter, all buttons recorded votes being cast for BJP.

Azad and Congress MP Ahmed Patel are learnt to have said that they had consulted technological experts who said the machines could be tampered with.

It is also believed that voter verifiable paper audit trail EVMs were not foolproof and could not ensure a free and fair polling process. Also, one member mentioned that not all voters were aware of the use of VVPATS which could add to confusion.

Even at Tuesday’s all-party meeting called by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Azad mentioned that one of the issues that the opposition would like to discuss during the session was that of use of EVMs.

