Indore: In the backdrop of late action taken by Election Commission on disputed remarks of political leader following intervention of Supreme Court, former chief election commissioner OP Rawat said fear of Election Commission has diminished. He said EC is competent to take action against wrong doings.
Rawat was interacting with mediapersons at Residency Kothi on Friday. He arrived here on a private visit. On the question related to late action initiated by EC on remarks of political leaders in the run-up to Lok Sabha election, Rawat said it is wrong perception that EC has no powers to take the action.
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“EC is fully competent with suitable laws to take action,” he remarked. He said it seems that the fear of Election Commission has diminished. When asked why do collectors send reports late to Election Commission, he said, “We would call the report in six hours and the reports would reach us in four hours. However, whatever action EC is taking is commendable.”
EVMs are robust machines
Responding to another question, he said EVMs are robust machines, which are appreciated world over for their quality and features. “A professor of Howard University has appreciated the machine in his journal. A professor from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stated that it is such a robust machine that no one can tamper with,” he said.
Rawat cited an example of Manipur election when a local powerful person enter the polling booth and everyone including police personnel and agents of political parties saluted him. He asked members of polling party to put ink on finger of a voter while he cast the vote in EVM. “We saw it through the webcast in New Delhi. I immediately informed state DGP about it. In next eight minutes, force reached there and nabbed the person,” he said.
Working on online voting right
ECI is working online voting or internet voting right system cautiously. Presently, for the service voters (army personnel) we have introduced Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS), where just after withdrawal of name by candidates, by printing the postal ballot it is immediately dispatched via ETPBS to concerned Commanding Officer, who downloads and prints it and sends back through routine post.
In this system one part is electronic, while second part is traditional postal system. EC is working on converting the second part also to electronic. C-DEC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing) is developing the technology. Once this system will be placed, thereafter NRI and migrant voters will be able to cast vote online.
Southern states
Responding to a query, Rawat said southern states particularly Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are more expenditure-sensitive in the country.
