Though the majority of other opposition leaders questioned EVMs as well, BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh retaliated, claiming that the Congress is only concerned about EVMs when it loses.
He also cited Acharya Pramod Krishnam, the leader of the Congress, who claimed that the grand old party lost because it had “insulted” Sanatan Dharma.
Why is this story important?
As the Congress prevailed in Telangana and the BJP won three states’ assembly elections handily, a verbal spat broke out.
In order to stop booth capturing—a practice in which paper ballots are tampered with—EVMs were deployed.
Voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) were introduced to address the shortcomings of electronic voting machines (EVMs), despite their reputation for security, transparency, and verifiability. The counting procedure is still unclear, though.
The BJP reportedly voiced similar reservations about EVMs prior to assuming office.
Any device with a chip can be compromised, according to Singh Singh, who added that he has been against EVMs since 2003.
Farooq Abdullah, a member of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, also voiced skepticism regarding electronic voting machines (EVMs), pointing out that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had admitted the possibility of “theft” when he was chief minister.
Congressman Karti Chidambaram, who acknowledged that some party members might have alternative views, nevertheless voiced faith in EVMs.
Arjun Ram Meghwal, a union minister, charged that the Congress was discourteous to voters by casting doubt on the outcome.
mandate of EVM, not of people: Sanjay Raut
The election results, according to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, were a “EVM mandate” rather than the will of the people. He challenged the BJP to conduct elections with paper ballots.
Separately, signs advocating for the outlawing of EVMs were observed outside Congress party headquarters following the election setback.
It’s interesting that Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, previously stated that it wouldn’t be shocking if voters blamed EVMs after losing elections.
Giriraj also pointed out that when the Congress won Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka, they did not contest the EVMs.
Akhilesh Yadav wants elections with ballots.
Chief of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav also expressed reservations about EVMs and demanded a go back to voting using paper ballots.
He said that if India adopted US and Japanese voting systems—where the process of tallying votes takes months—democracy would be more robust.
“We ought to use a voting paper system if America and Japan do. Furthermore, counting should be done carefully and not quickly. What’s the rush, after all?” questioned Yadav.