Election Commission Accused of Fudging Voting Data and EVM Manipulation
Election Commission Accused of Fudging Voting Data and EVM Manipulation
The ECI is likely to ignore all opposition complaints, as the top poll body is seen as an extended arm of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi.
By Rakesh Raman
A number of politicians of different opposition parties have accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of concealing real polling data in the ongoing Lok Sabha election.
It is alleged that after the first two phases of polling on April 19 and April 26, the ECI did not give the absolute number of votes and rather released only percentages of votes cast.
As the number of voters in each constituency is very large, there can be a huge difference between the percentage and the actual number of votes. Therefore, the opposition groups allege that the ECI is deliberately hiding the real numbers to help a particular political party in the election.
Moreover, it is being observed that the ECI is arbitrarily revising the percentage voting figures. The West Bengal chief minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee said on May 1 that the sudden increase in poll percentage is disturbing.
According to a Livemint report, Ms. Banerjee not only raised concerns over the revised final figures for the first two phases of Lok Sabha election, but she also questioned the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs). [ You can click here to visit the EVM website. ]
Similarly, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also raised concerns over the sudden increase in the voter turnout figures given in percentages, saying that the percentage figures are meaningless in the absence of absolute voter data. “ECI must be transparent,” Yechury said in a tweet.
[ Also Read: RMN Poll on Electronic Voting Machines EVMs in Elections ]
The opposition political outfits also blame the ECI for the delay in releasing the voter data. In his tweet on May 1, a Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh said that the delay of 11 days in releasing the data for the first two phases is unacceptable.
However, as usual, the ECI is likely to ignore all opposition complaints, as the top poll body is seen as an extended arm of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi.
It has been repeatedly complained by the opposition parties and citizens that the ECI allows EVM tampering to help Modi and BJP win certain key state elections and Lok Sabha elections.
However, on April 26, some naive and complicit judges of the Supreme Court arbitrarily dismissed the petitions that sought to stop EVM manipulation. Now, the Lok Sabha election is being held on EVMs and in all probability Modi and BJP will win with EVMs.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He has also launched the “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” editorial section to cover the news, events, and other developments related to the 2024 election.
