Dates for Himachal Assembly Election Announced with Voting on EVMs
Since the election is again going to be held on electronic voting machines (EVMs), the BJP is expected to win.
By Rakesh Raman
The Election Commission of India (ECI) today – October 14 – announced the dates for the Legislative Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh.
The election will be held on November 12, 2022 and the counting of votes will take place on December 8. The present term of the 68-seat Himachal Assembly ends on January 8, 2023.
The last Himachal election was won in 2017 by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi. Now, BJP has 45 seats and Congress only 20 while 3 are held by others.
Since the election is again going to be held on electronic voting machines (EVMs), the BJP is expected to win because Modi’s party knows the art of winning elections on EVMs.
[ Also Read: Factors That Will Help BJP Win the 2024 Lok Sabha Election ]
In the past, at least 17 opposition political parties have demanded elections on ballot papers. They include Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Samajwadi Party, CPI-M, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), DMK, CPI, YSR Congress, Kerala Congress Mani (KCM), and AIUDF.
Although the ruling party BJP of PM Modi is in favour of EVMs, the opposition parties have raised serious doubts about the security of these machines.
Schedule for GE to the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh.
#AssemblyElections #ECI pic.twitter.com/UnSu7eN19p— Election Commission of India #SVEEP (@ECISVEEP) October 14, 2022
Major political parties in India have repeatedly complained about the vulnerability of EVMs. It is also being observed that when EVMs malfunction, they vote only in favour of Modi’s BJP which runs with Lotus election symbol.
Since the Election Commission is totally controlled by the government, it rejects the demands of opposition parties to discard EVMs and use ballot papers. Thus, with selective manipulation of EVMs in some elections, BJP wins effortlessly.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He runs various environment protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects.
