Gujarat Election: Congress Moves Supreme Court to Avoid Voting Fraud
If Congress does not understand this EVM thing, all its campaign efforts in future elections will go futile.
By Rakesh Raman
As it was expected, the complaints of tampering with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have surfaced in the Gujarat election that concluded Thursday while the results are expected to be announced on Monday (December 18).
The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking direction to the Election Commission to count and cross-verify at least 25% of the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) paper trail votes with the EVM votes on the counting day.
However, it is said that the Supreme Court has dismissed the Congress petition, saying that the aggrieved party should file a comprehensive case for overall reforms in the polling process.
Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking direction to the Election Commission to count and cross-verify at least 25% of the VVPAT paper trail votes with the EVM votes on counting day. pic.twitter.com/fmVCDF6jbe
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 15, 2017
Now it is largely believed that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win the Gujarat election.
[ Voters Can’t, but Voting Machines Can Help Congress Win Gujarat Election ]
As the vulnerability of EVMs is clearly visible, it is believed that only those politicians and political parties will win future elections in India who know the art of stealing voter databases and hacking EVMs.
Modi’s BJP has repeatedly demonstrated its prowess in dealing with the EVMs. Voters can press any election symbol such as the Hand, Elephant, or the Coconut on EVM, the vote goes to Lotus which is BJP’s election symbol.
If Congress does not understand this EVM thing, all its campaign efforts in future elections will go futile. It must also learn from the past experiences.
Major opposition parties have repeatedly complained about the vulnerability of EVMs. It is also being observed that when EVMs malfunction, they vote only in favor of Modi’s BJP which runs with Lotus election symbol.
Now it is argued that the so-called ‘Modi wave’ in Indian elections is not driven by voters, but it is driven by voting machines. Obviously, BJP will always oppose paper ballots and any investigation into the misuse of EVMs. And it goes without saying that the Election Commission of India (ECI) will always obey Modi. Less said about the Indian courts, the better.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page tech business column (named Technophile) regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).
Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development. He also runs a free school for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
Photo courtesy: Congress
