Congress Alleges EVM Hacking in Haryana Election
Congress Alleges EVM Hacking in Haryana Election
The opposition parties are scared to raise the EVM issue because most opposition politicians in India are illiterate and lack technology understanding.
By Rakesh Raman
Congress – which is almost an extinct political outfit in India – has alleged that large-scale electronic voting machine (EVM) hacking took place in the recent 90-seat Haryana Assembly election in which Congress faced a humiliating defeat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi won the Haryana election for which the results were declared on October 8.
In a media interaction on October 9, Congress said that a party delegation met the Election Commission of India (ECI) officials and submitted a formal complaint of EVM manipulation in Haryana.
The party said that it got defeated in Haryana election because of EVM hacking and vote counting irregularities. Although Congress said it is waiting for the ECI response on its complaints, the election authorities – which work under the control of the Modi regime – are not expected to take any action. Thus, the BJP will continue to run the government in Haryana.
As EVM frauds are happening frequently to win elections deceptively, particularly by the ruling regimes, most citizens in the world demand elections on paper ballots. In India, for example, there are numerous complaints against EVMs. It is alleged that Modi’s BJP manipulates EVMs selectively to win certain state elections and Lok Sabha (parliamentary) elections.
[ Video: हरियाणा चुनाव में हार के बाद राहुल गांधी को कांग्रेस से निकाला जाना चाहिए ]
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The opposition parties are scared to raise the EVM issue because most opposition politicians in India are illiterate and lack technology understanding. But recently the president of Samajwadi Party and member of parliament (MP), Akhilesh Yadav, spoke forcefully against the fraudulent use of EVMs in Indian elections.
While speaking in parliament, he said that he would never trust EVMs even if his party wins all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) where the party operates.
As the BJP of PM Modi has also won the Lok Sabha election 2024, rampant EVM frauds have been reported to help BJP candidates win elections.
The Wire news service reported on June 10 that in over 140 Lok Sabha seats during the 2024 election, more EVM votes were counted than EVM votes polled. It has given data for different parliamentary constituencies where discrepancies are visible.
Since the Election Commission of India (ECI) works without any accountability and the Supreme Court judges – who are clueless about EVM technology – are arbitrarily dismissing petitions against EVMs, there are no repercussions for this possible voting fraud in India. As a result, BJP and Modi will keep winning elections at will.
As the opposition parties in India are full of uneducated and criminal politicians, they do not raise their voice forcefully against EVMs. After each election defeat, they willy-nilly accept the results and wait for the next election when BJP wins again. It is believed that if voting is done on ballot papers instead of EVMs, neither Modi nor BJP can win any election.
Recently, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk – who also owns social media site X (formerly Twitter) – warned of the risks of using EVMs in elections.
In his tweet of July 9, Musk said, “Electronic voting machines and anything mailed in is too risky. We should mandate paper ballots and in-person voting only.”
He appended with his tweet a slew of media reports that revealed the vulnerability of EVMs. These reports confirmed that EVMs can be reprogrammed to invisibly ensure the victory of any candidate in the elections.
The reports shared by Musk also revealed that a malicious software or vote-stealing code can be developed. This rogue software can spread from EVM to EVM like a computer virus to silently change the election outcome.
After Musk’s observations about EVM vulnerability, a BJP politician had vaguely defended EVM elections in India. In a misleading and convoluted tweet on June 16, he said Indian EVMs cannot be hacked because they are not connected. But this is a totally unfounded argument to hoodwink the Indian voters, most of whom are already illiterate.
It can be deduced from various studies which reveal the vulnerability of EVMs that BJP and Modi will keep winning those elections that they want to win in different Indian states and Lok Sabha constituencies to stay in power by hook or by crook.
They manipulate EVMs cautiously so that the manipulation does not look like a flagrant fraud in elections. As the naive opposition leaders cannot understand these tricks, they will stay in opposition perpetually while BJP and Modi are on course to complete 15 years in power.
Today, nearly 1.4 billion Indians are suffering under the Modi regime with unprecedented poverty, corruption, inflation, unemployment, lawlessness, and religious animosity.
Meanwhile, a dedicated microsite explains the risks of holding elections on EVMs in India. It covers legal, political, and technological issues related to 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.
