New Delhi: Harping on the credibility of EVMs, in the backdrop of the glitches reported in the first phase on April 11, a number of opposition parties on Sunday said they will move the Supreme Court yet again to demand verification of at least 50 per cent of votes by paper trail. The Congress, the TDP, the Samajwadi Party, the CPI and the CPM jointly addressed a press conference to highlight the issue of transparency in the election process and protection of voter rights with a call to “save democracy”. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of “programming” electronic voting machines to win the Lok Sabha elections, while his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu said 21 political parties have demanded verification of paper trail of 50 per cent of the EVMs.
Naidu on Saturday had met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to raise the issue of EVM malfunctioning. The demand by the parties comes in the peak of the election season. The Supreme Court last Monday had directed the Election Commission to increase the random matching of VVPAT slips to five polling booths per assembly segment, from one at present, saying it will provide greater satisfaction not just to political parties but the entire electorate. Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding that at least 50% votes polled through EVMs be verified.
Kejriwal claimed that people were losing faith in EVMs and the election procedure. These are raising a question mark on the country’s democratic structure, he said. Congress leaders and senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi also attended the conference, with Singhvi saying opposition parties will approach the Supreme Court. “Questions were raised after the first phase of elections but we don’t think the EC is paying adequate attention. If you press the button for X party, vote goes to Y party. VVPAT display lasts only 3 seconds, instead of 7 seconds,” Singhvi said.
‘‘The so-called all-party meet is nothing but a confession of defeat. They do not have any governance agenda or leadership to inspire the people. The only thing they have in common is negativity and an attempt to somehow pull India back from the development it has witnessed in the past five years,” BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said here.
