‘Don’t Want EVMs’: Kharge Demands Ballot Paper Voting After Maharashtra Debacle, BJP Reacts

Last Updated:November 26, 2024, 17:29 IST

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge urged to return to the traditional way of conduction elections using ballot papers

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday demanded to return to the traditional way of conducting elections via ballot papers alleging tampering with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

While addressing party’s Constitution Day event at Talkatora Stadium in the national capital on Tuesday, Kharge said, “…Votes of people from SC, ST, OBC, poor communities are going to waste. Set aside EVMs. We do not want EVMs, we want voting on ballot paper…Let them keep the machine at their home, at the home of PM Modi or Amit Shah…Then we would know where you (BJP-NDA) stand…We should start a campaign on behalf of our party. We would like to urge everyone and all parties, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi we should take out (a rally) just like Bharat Jodo Yatra that we want ballot paper.”

BJP Reacts

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed the grand-old party leader for demanding elections on ballot paper instead of using EVMs saying that the Congress party insults and condemns Constitution, constitutional bodies like Election Commission of India (ECI) and Supreme Court by making such statements.

BJP National spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a jibe at Kharge saying that for him the Election Commission and the EVMs work properly when the Congress wins elections (like in Jammu-Kashmir, Telangana, Wayanad, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand), but when the BJP-led parties perform well, they try to blame their loss on the constitution and EVMs.

Shiv Sena leader Milind Deora also took a veiled jibe at opposition and said that for them EVM stands for Excuses for Voting Margins.

“In light of the opposition’s excuses, here’s a new take: EVM = Excuses for Voting Margins. Hacking allegations seem to pop up only when the results don’t go their way!” he said in a post on X.

Earlier, several opposition leaders including Shiv Sena (UBT’s) Sanjay Raut, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, demanded using ballot papers to clear doubts over the functioning of EVMs.

After the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance won a landslide victory in the Maharashtra assembly elections, shattering the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi’s dream to wrest power, voices of EVM tampering started coming up from the opposition camp.

The BJP won the highest ever 132 seats for the party, while the Shiv Sena led by Shinde bagged 57 seats and NCP won 41 seats to take the Mahayuti total to 230 seats. Congress as part of MVA won just 16 seats.

“The EVM manufacturers have closed production and if there is doubt over their functioning, elections should be held using ballot papers on the demand of the public at large. Any technology can be hacked, and even Elon Musk has said this,” Sukhu had said.

The opposition party in the past levelled allegations of EVM tampering at multiple occasions whenever the election results weren’t in their favour.

Supreme Court Junks PIL on Ballot Paper

The apex court meanwhile dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which sought conducting upcoming elections on ballot paper in India.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and PB Varale while dismissing the petition remarked, “What happens is, if you win the elections, EVMs are not tampered. When you lose elections, EVMs are tampered. When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered. Now, this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered.”

Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea had sought several directions including a directive to the ECI to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.

(With inputs from agencies)